This is a clear case for massive amounts of organic matter, immediately. It is not for the nutrients, though they will come with it, it is to improve water retention. If that matter is wood chips, it will be a few years before you can grow a lawn. But I have experience with gardening in extremely sandy soil (vegetables, in Michigan) and one foot of OM is just a start. That will fill soil pores to four or 5 inches of soil, and approximately double your water retention capacity. It is not a lot but it is a start.

Over time you should really add of order 2 ft of OM or more.
BTW, with salinity and sand, asparagus is one of a few plants that will do very well there. Watermelon will do well too, and both can be considered ornamental, specially WM.

What really works for me to help retain water and nutrients is: huge amounts of organic matter and very thick mulch (at least 5 inches).
I make lots of compost, which holds a lot of water, and mulch with whatever I can lay my hands on that will break down eventually.
On the vege garden, that's generally grass-clippings I get from a lawn guy (no lawn), old plants, pulled weeds, straw...
I'm fully aware that my vege garden looks 'messy' to some people, but it looks good to me!
On the ornamental gardens I mostly use fine woody prunings and chipped tree mulch and don't add compost: I only grow things that come from dry, nutrient-poor environments.
I'd have a look around and see what plants that you like grow well without pampering in your area?
If you're on the coast, do you get seaweed washing up? It's great stuff.
I'm using some modified hugelkultur in the vege garden (while the discussion I've the linked is about hot/dry climates, it works for sand. Same theory: go DOWN)
I highly recommend not raising beds. If anything, I've dug out sand so that the beds stay at ground level when amended and mulched.

Here is a link that might be useful: hugelkultur

What that sand needs is organic matter which could be gotten by hugelkultur, compost (digested vegetative waste), or any other form of vegetative waste such as tree leaves.
Hugelkultur is good for a small space but probably is not very good for a whole yard and that does involve fairly large quantities of wood that many of us do not have ready access to.
You can buy bags of compost but you will find that gets to be quite expensive in a short while, look for a source of bulk compost but be aware that some composts create as many problems as it may solve because of long lasting herbicides. You want between 6 and 8 percent organic matter in your soil.

Great suggestions! Thanks so much!! The lawn will definitely need lots of "love" but my main concern is definitely organic matter to prepare the planting beds. I'm trying to remind myself to start small and have completely prepared beds rather than have a finished design in my heart and have everything die.

We're about 15 minutes from the coast of Delaware Bay... and 1/2 hr from Lewes & Rehoboth Beach areas... not alot of seaweed (unless there's a certain time of year that it happens). One big agricultural "business" here is chicken farming! I've got a lead on chicken manure but don't want to do it yet. How long should a pile age before it's mixed into a new planting bed?

It seems that everyone mulches in their grass clippings... but I'll keep my eyes open in the neighborhood... that's exactly what I need to get a compost pile going! Fresh grass on top always looks better than a nasty pile of newspapers & kitchen scraps, but it's going to be a few months before the grass is ready for mowing! We don't really have any leaves in our new neighborhood. Should I shred the newspapers? I'm a couponer and have quite the pile of newspapers that I put into the recycling bin every week. (I haven't wanted to make an "ugly spot" in the back of the yard.) I definitely have some gardenweb research to do this week! :)

Watermelon sounds like fun to try!! I'm assuming that the right amount of compost & organic matter would help tremendously in growing some awesome peppers & tomatoes! (Keep reminding myself.. small scale until I know what will grow!) I wonder how carrots would do? In the sand? So much better than PA rocks!

I suggested wood chips based on cost. You can get a few loads for free from tree companies. Of course chicken manure would be better nutrient-wise, and also it composts a lot faster. You might have to do it piece-wise. Chicken manure immediately where you want vegetables, the cheaper wood chips for long term soil amendment. The chicken manure nutrients will flush quickly out of the sand, though, because it has not been made into a loam yet and there is nothing to hold onto the nutrients. It will be a few years before you have a stable soil...

From what I can gather you arnt going to plant anything in that sandy spot for a while? If that is in fact the case grab all the unfinshed chicken manure leaves grass clipping ect you can find and roto till and add water on a weekly basis. Dont worry about making your own compost as soil will do that for you even faster. If the conditions are right you could have 2 ft of OM decayed on your spot in as little as three months. If it is possible (neighbors,smell) get a bunch of manure and till that in also along with peat moss. In short keep adding and tilling and watering and in no time you will have a good base.

This post was edited by Oil_Robb on Sun, Jan 27, 13 at 18:30

Keep in mind that the manure from an egg factory or chicken factory (those very large operations are not farms) will be loaded with antibiotics that you may not want in our soil.
In Delaware spending money on peat moss is unnecessary given all the trees I have seen there on my visits.

My entire yard is sand... I'm not looking to amend everything at once. The lawn will take a few years to build a topsoil layer by mulching. I'll be digging down and mixing in separate components to create a more suitable planting bed in different areas. This may end up looking like a kitchen garden or potager of sorts. I'm looking for advice on what those individual components should be and the technique for doing it. This may be more of a square foot gardening technique for the short term.

Wood chips will take entirely too long to break down. I'm looking to plant this spring. I would add some to a small compost pile at the back of our property but to layer them into a new planting area just to wait until they break down will take too long. I will, however, be using them as a decorative top dressing and mulch on my front flower beds. The wood chips from last year have mixed in but haven't begun to break down.

Kimmsr, you've had great advice on what to avoid... what would you do with a yard full of sand? What organic matter would you use?

I'm thinking my best bet is going to be to lay out a tarp, dig out the area, mix in the individual components and pile it back in the hole.... water well, let it sit for a short period of time and then plant. I can top dress with grass clippings as the summer goes by.

There is a farmers market that runs during the summertime that advertises compost off of Route 1 near us. It may be the most cost effective thing & easiest for me is to order a truckload to get started.