Sand(y) rose bed!

11 years ago

last modified: 11 years ago

Hi all! I got some new roses for Christmas (some barefoot Austin's and a cherry parfait and bolero) for a rose bed I am preparing in my side yard. I was horrified to find however that after lifting up some large pavers the entire area is pure sand! I dig and dig and it's just sand and more sand. There seems to be no soil no matter how far I dig (so far almost 3 feet deep).

I don't understand why it's all sand because the other end of that same side yard has soil and many plants. But where the pavers were its sand as far as the shovel can dig.

What is the best way to prepare this sand pit for my roses? Am I completely screwed or can I still make my bed? So far I dug out a section thats about 3ft by 3ft. I removed the sand almost 3 feet deep and added a mixture of 1/2 compost and 1/4 peat miss and 1/4 sand. Will this be enough to get the roses started?

Should I make a raised bed to add another foot of soil so that the roots are not as close to the sand?

Will the sand deep below ever improve with the amendments I've added on top?

I know it's not the ideal area to plant roses but it's the only sunny location I have so it's either this or no roses at all. :(

Featured Answer

sultry_jasmine_nights (Florida-9a-ish)

11 years ago

My yard is the same way. I am in NE FL so we have lots of hardwoods and pine trees that have decomposing leaves that make nice soil in part of the property. Then other parts (the sunny parts without trees especially around the house are all sand. Then out by the street in one corner is actually mostly yellow/orange clay. I amended sandy beds in the sunny areas with compost, peat moss, coffee grounds whatever I could find. It took a few years but now there are actually worms there where they weren't any at all when we first moved here.

I think you are doing the right thing so far.

I have chickens, rabbits and other critters that I use compost from. The rabbit manure can go straight on the beds without having to be composted. I also make worm compost with it. I throw in grass clippings,leaves, fine pine chips from the animal bedding and hen's nest boxes in to be composted too. Seems to be working.

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Comments (10)

seil zone 6b MI
11 years ago
If the area was under pavers they may have laid that sand down in that spot to make a stable, level bed for the pavers. I would add amendments of different kinds along with some top soil but leave some sand. It's very good for drainage.
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SoFL Rose z10
Original Author
11 years ago
Ok great. This sounds better than what I was expecting. I will forge forward with what I've been doing and add some worms when I'm through. Thanks for the advice and encouragement :)
floridarosez9 Morgan
11 years ago
Consider nematodes if your roses aren't on Fortuniana.
SoFL Rose z10
Original Author
11 years ago
what can i do to prevent Nematodes? Some of my roses are on fortuniana, but not all of them. Is there anything i can do besides amending the beds that will help with nematodes?
Ken (N.E.GA.mts) 7a/b
11 years ago
I did most of my rose gardening in S.E. and Central Fl. Started in the mid 1970's and retired and moved to N.E. GA. in 2008. Everywhere in FL. I grew roses in what started as sugar sand and worked it into a sandy loam. Trust me, working with sand is a whole lot easier then working with rock hard red clay. Anyway, your mix is good. To help keep the nematodes away is quite simple. Dig each bare root bush up, one bush at a time. Dig a little bit more soil out of the hole and line the bottom and sides of the hole with fresh pine needles and fresh pine bark. When replanting your bush try to mix some more pine needles and bark in with it. Nematodes can't stand the acid from pine and will stay away from the area. Now mulching is VERY important to keep nematodes away. Mulch the entire bed with a good layer of pine needles and cover with pine bark or nuggets. Every year (I always did this in Jan.) lightly rake up all the mulch and put down a fresh layer of pine needles and gently respred the old mulch over the needles and put down a fresh layer of pine bark. This works very well and you can grow anything on Dr Huey. I know. There are a lot of roses you can only get on Dr Huey. I grew several bushs of Royal Amethyst on Dr Huey for a bunch of years. I was ver pleased with the results.
SoFL Rose z10 thanked Ken (N.E.GA.mts) 7a/b
floridarosez9 Morgan
11 years ago
Heavily amend planting holes with manure or purchased soil mix and kitty litter. Roses on Fort and China roses aren't bothered by nematodes. I personally don't mix any of my native sand back in just because I'm afraid I would be putting nematodes back in the planting hole, but that's just me. Dr. Manners, my favorite rose expert, says that even with replacing the soil, the nematodes will eventually get susceptible roses, but some of mine have been in the ground for 14 years or so and are still doing fine.
SoFL Rose z10 thanked floridarosez9 Morgan
SoFL Rose z10
Original Author
11 years ago
Wow that's great advice. I don't have access to pine needles but the mulch I use is made from Pine. Do you think that would work? I also have used ceder mulch and eucalyptus mulch. I wonder if either of these would work.
sultry_jasmine_nights (Florida-9a-ish)
11 years ago
Some nurseries carry pine needles in bundles for mulching. Maybe call around? But yeah, if the pine mulch works then that would be easier.

I didn't know about the pine needles keeping the nematodes away. Good tip!! I can go out in the deeply wooded areas behind our property and rake up a bunch.

Tractor Supply sells fine pine chips that are for chicken bedding in big square bags for a little over $5.oo they smell pretty fresh (piney).

Walmart sells something like Pine Mulch which I think is the same as "pine fines" that a lot of people mix into their soil mixes and/or mulch with. It is by Timberline in a purple bag. 2 cu ft for under $3.00. Not sure how that would work?
floridarosez9 Morgan
11 years ago
Ken is right. I forgot to mention nematodes don't like a heavy mulch. I just use manure and wood shavings several inches deep for my mulch. It seems to work very well, but pine needles are good, too.