What ever you use, check into buying a pallet, often you can save money.

I haven't used the Kellogg Amend, but a quick Googling indicates it's basically compost with some fertilizer added as well as gypsum. You certainly don't need gypsum since it's for improving the texture of clay soil. The fertilizer value could probably be obtained cheaper elsewhere - for example, plain old compost has NPK. If it were me I would get 2 bags of compost instead of one bag of Amend.

Peat moss will add organic matter but I'm not real sure if it will do anything special in a sandy soil that compost won't. It's fairly expensive compared to locally made compost.

I would also look at their cheaper brands of compost. Sometimes these are real crap and have a lot of soil in them, but sometimes you get lucky and it might look almost as good as the fancy stuff. If there isn't a broken bag to look in, discretly poke a finger-sized hole in one and take a look.

Rent a pickup and go buy it(or free) in bulk. You're going to spend a fortune buying bags of enough amendments from those places to do a lawn.

Good amendments for lawns -- I get horse manure for free and my compost for $12/yd.

Good Luck.

Kevin

Sandy SOIL 93% sand

I have just mover to Southwest NC. The soil in this part of NC is very sandy.

I want to make about 200 sq-ft garden and need to improve/amend the soil. With pH being around 6.5, I can add pine needles and fall leaves. All I have to do is to rake. But I wonder if there are other options that won't cost too much.

Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Sey

The amendments that will do the most good for sandy soils (as well as clay soils) is organic materials, enough to bring the level of organic mater in those sols to 6 to 8 percent. Keep in mind that it takes 10 tons of organic material per acre to raise the level of organic matter in soil 1 percent.

Compost, shredded leaves, straw, hay, grass clippings, any vegetative waste is organic material that can be added to soils and all of them help bring up the level of organic matter.

kimmq is kimmsr

Seysonn, the same advice for the original poster's sand will work here. Compost, several inches if you can get it. A pickup load would be good. Doesn't matter so much whether it's from manure, yard waste or whatever, at least initially. Quantity is what you're going for. Dig or till it in and cover with leaves and pine needles as a mulch for winter. In spring if the mulch is mostly decomposed, just till it again, or rake it off and use for mulch after planting, or just plant through it (for tomato plants etc.).