This past winter we had to have a septic system replaced (during the holidays, of course). For those of you who have never had the experience, the contractors are required to uncover, pump out, and fill the old septic tank before they install the new one. So now the back yard looks like a giant, rocky sandbox sprinkled with weeds. (Sub-soil is the wrong term on Long Island, it's sub-sand here) The problem is made worse by the fact that the southern 2/3 of the back yard is essentially wilderness that shades the sandy area all day long. I will give the workers credit, they did a good job of leveling the yard, but all they did was spread the sand around and I'm at a loss as to what I should do to get it back into decent shape.

I'm not foolish enough to assume that I'm ever going to have a showcase lawn in this place with no sun and crappy soil. I'm also not interested in paying a fortune to have someone truck in "topsoil" and then lay sod that would probably die anyway without sunlight. What I would prefer is a home-grown solution that I can work on over the next year or so to rehabilitate the area. My current plan consists of major applications of free compost from the municipal compost facility. I'm thinking of a 3" layer this fall, another next spring, and a third next fall for a total of 9" on top of the sand. but I'm concerned that it might be too much, too quickly.

Anyone have any other advice? Sorry for the length and thanks in advance for any assistance.