If it is sunny and you are willing to water, you can plant just about anything as long as you amend the soil first. Clear the area of debris, then till in 2-3 inches of compost. Roll it flat and then seed whatever grass you want. Grass will grow perfectly well in amended sandy soil as long as you water it. If you are patient, you can amend with coffee grounds. They are great organic matter and will encourage worms and other critters to improve the soil for you. For an area of any size, we're talking about thousands of lbs of organic material you are going to need, so you can stop at starbucks every day for a year or you can pay for a truck load of compost and renovate in a weekend.

My first garden was created 5 years ago...we took off the sod, amended with compost, tilled and planted and mulched. It was a nightmare. I probably needed 60 times more compost, and never could have afforded it. The following two years I hated working in the garden because it was such hard work with the clay and many plants didn't thrive. I replanted areas many times and each time I would add more compost/mulch, whatever I could get my hands on. I also added a soil conditioner that was very expensive but works like gypsum...breaks down clay. (Who knows, maybe it WAS gypsum with a bigger price tag.) It's 6 years later now and I have to tell you that the garden is just a delight to work in now. I plan to spread gypsum a couple of times each year and continue mulching the beds, but I'm sure I'll never have to do all that double-digging like I did before....just keep on piling on the stuff like everyone wrote above, and before you know it, your beds will be as you need them to be. I also highly recommend that you search out plants that LIKE clay, so that your plantings will be successful. I spent many, many dollars buying plants that needed more drainage than I had and would die...and I wondered why. Some of those plants might do ok for me now in the same garden, but I think it's important to plant things that actually LIKE the ground that they are in today. Good Luck!

I’m a new organic vegetable gardener having started two 3x3 raised beds last year. I lined the beds with a fabric liner, thinking this would help prevent pests and weeds in the soil, and used organic compost and fertilizers. This year I’m am creating 2 more beds and rethinking the liners. Here’s why. This spring I noticed tiny white bugs in one bed, and quite a lot of them. The bed is already planted with onions, garlic, beets, spinach, peas and oregano—and all are doing well. I panicked, did some Google searching, and are fairly sure they are harmless springtails – decomposers that are common when you use compost. But now I’m thinking they could easily reproduce and swarm my entire bed, with no way to escape due to the liners! So, does having liners disrupt the whole soil ecosystem and prevent nature from doing what its supposed to do to keep everything in check? Should I forego the liners in the new beds and just set them up over the existing mulched soil? If so, should i dig up the pine bark mulch first before filling with a soil/compost mix? Help! I need to set up my beds this weekend.

lady, where are you? Different locales have different forms of clay. In general though, from what I've read for those plants, just generously amending the clay with organic matter (compost, leaf mold, etc...) should do fine for the hostas. Mine do fine in my clay-based soil. I assume you mean calla lilies - instead of cali - the resource I read from... http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/bulbs/calla-lily/growing-calla-lilies-and-care-of-calla-lilies.htm ... indicated they like more drainage. You could remove some of the native clay and incorporate a mix intended as potting soil into the clay. As mentioned, all clays are different. You may have one that is just fine being amended once, or have one that will require a lot of work. Tough to know for sure from here. Some clay could be beneficial, but not so much that the soil doesn't drain well.