I had my soil tested and it us VERY acidic. 10a Port Charlotte really surprised me

I live in North Port for 14 years and my soil was on a bed of marl and very alkaline. Go figure.

Amending of holes and even beds for long term plants like trees, shrubs and long-lived herbaceous plants - in short any situation where planting sites are not going to be re-worked on a frequent basis - is not a viable method. Regardless of soil type and climate region. With organic matter dug into lean soils in hot climates in particular apt to have decomposed and vanished as quickly as one year later.

The failure of amending of planting holes to improve establishment of trees and shrubs was being noticed by university level researchers as long ago as the late 1960s.

Amending the soil gives a new plant a boost to survive but in the long term that amendment is moot. But yes amend to get the babies going but don't count on your amendments to keep feeding in the longterm.

The fill that was brought in to you yard when you house was built makes a big difference in the native growing ability of your yard. I remember my neighbor looking at my zinnia and marigold bed that abutted his fence and asking me what i was feeding them to make them so huge since just on the other side of the fence he was having problems getting anything to grow. I was feeding them nothing but had added a layer of oak mulch into the soil when i planted in my sandy soil. His soil was hard and shelly instead.

Pea, which is why the articles are only about planting, not plant care. Even when you're planting drought-tolerant natives, you have to amend the soil to let the plants get established so they can survive in our horrible sand, which doesn't hold water. The organic matter is to hold the water for the first weeks until they stabilize.

Planting in marl is the one of the most common things I was asked about when I worked at garden centers. People would come in saying that their yards were like concrete, and they couldn't even dig a hole in it. I would teach them how to do it, and they would come back later to thank me. I learned that from the owners of Duke Garden Center. I just didn't plant in my rock-hard marl on the side of my house, and nothing would grow there. After 14 years of leaf mulch and adding earthworms, that soil was crumbly and black, but it takes a long time to get it that way.

I was going to o say I never heard of Marl, but as soon as I was reading it I was like ohhh yeah, I know what that is! Lol

Nice article thank you for the read.

From the article:

"Florida sand has no nutrient value, and very little mineral
value. It does not hold water well, and is a host to a very large
nematode population. In short, unless you're planting nothing but
natives, planting in Florida sand requires adding organic matter
(compost, leaf mold, etc.) to get plants to thrive."

That'd be me! Natives grow beautifully with very little watering required. I guess the biggest problem is finding seeds or plants to purchase. Fortunately, we're loaded with chapters of the Florida Native Plant Society .

They can help you find plants and seeds.

Pattybee, I like natives too, and had a lot of them in my yard when I had my house. I look for natives to put in here everywhere I go. They are so easy and some are absolutely beautiful.