Plants you can plant right into our sandy soils?

11 years ago

As I've really just been into gardening for a couple months now, my compost pile is pretty much nonexistent. I may have found a place for free horse manure, but I don't know when I can borrow my brothers truck again.

So, what plants/seeds can go right into our sandy central florida soil and still do fine? So far I've figured out that milkweed does fine. It was looking so bad in the pot that I planted it right in the sand about a month ago and it's doubled in size, so I guess it doesn't mind.

Any other stuff that likes the sand?

Additionally, I seem to have managed to kill my agastache and rudbeckia. They weren't really getting enough direct sun, just indirect light, but they had still bloomed pretty much all summer. A couple weeks ago I got a bag of milorganite for the roses and banana and gave them each a little bit too. They died about 2 weeks later. It was so fast! Are those two plants that just don't like fertilizer? Additionally, I had amended the soil, but it seemed like the roots shrank back to almost nothing, like they didn't like the topsoil and blackcow I planted them in. Are they sand lovers that I killed with kindness? I have one agastache left, I rinsed off the remaining milorginate, dug it up and planted it in full sun directly into the sandy soil I have here. It's still alive but lingering. Any other suggestions for what may have gone wrong?

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Comments (2)

SusieQsie_Fla
11 years ago
Hi Jen
I put lantana in the sand. Recently plopped some cannas into the bed - running out of container-garden space, and my Black-n Blue Salvias. Salvia Coral Nymph get nice, even in the unamended sand. I can send ya some seeds,if ya want. But I start the seeds in pots, first.

I wouldn't try to plant any seed in the sand, except for maybe Hyacinth Beans or those other peas that vine and bloom - Indigo Peas.

This spring, I had a great marigold garden even though I didn't add anything to the sand. And bouganvillea grows even in rocks and oyster shells. I also put in my passion vines along the fence.

In the front gardens that don't border along the orange grove and may have better soil from 30 years ago when someone probably put in some sod - I put angelonia, torenia and dahlias (but the dahlias haven't bloomed much. They were plants from seeds this spring, so they may need more time) and you could plant crape myrtles, duranta, tibuchina and daylillies in sand.

I'm sure there's lots more - these are just the ones I've recently put into our yard that we just moved to. I've had good luck with this stuff in other Florida-sand yards, too.

One thing, though, it really helps to have an irrigation system. The old owners of this place put roses, azaleas and caladiums in, plus some petunias for curb appeal, and they really perked up when we moved in and turned on the pump regularly. It never seems to rain enough!
Michael AKA Leekle2ManE
11 years ago
I haven't tried growing much of anything from seed, just a couple of sabal palms. I prefer to propagate by cuttings and transplant after a good root structure has been formed. But I have put most every plant I have directly into the sandy soil around my house. Even the Elephant Ears.

Like you, I have only been into gardening for a short time, since March or February, and while I finally have a compost barrel, it isn't quite ready yet. Until it does get going and I have a fairly consistent supply of compost, I always keep a bag of Black Kow around. For plants that need more organic soil, such as the Elephant Ears, I throw in a couple of spade-fulls of of the Kow and call it good. Most everything is handling sandy soil quite well (even the Crowned Snakes I've found slithering under the dirt). That said, I am planting mostly stuff that is native to our area, so they have evolved in this type of soil and take to it readily.
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I think the best palms to use would be the sabal minor and the needle palm. Windmill palms will need protection during the first winter or two to get it started. Also buy palms soon because if they arent planted before fourth of july they may not set enough roots to successfully overwinter outdoors. There are some large needles off of ebay, but sabal minors are much harder to find. The larger the palm the better chance for survival. Musa basjoo bananas will also make it feel tropical. They die to the ground at the first frost, but will come right back up by may. They are also on ebay. If you will be down their around the time the first frost hits then you can cut the banana down to about 3 feet so it is just a stalk, and then cover it up with old blankets to keep it warmer and plastic to keep moisture from coming in. Then you would also have to uncover it in april. Doing this would allow it to grow from the top of the stalk which means you would be starting out with a 3 foot banana in april instead of a banana comming out of the ground. Yuccas are also a great option for a tropical look. Curve leaf yuccas will survive the winter no problem and will even flower in the spring and fall. Soft beaked yuccas are common, pretty, and hardy as well. The eastern prickly pear cactus will be a nice groundcover and will even flower. Psrrys agrave (Agrave americana) will grow into a nice plant and will survive your winters pretty well as long as its not planted in standing water. Cannas are also nice, but have to be dug up every year or mulched VERY heavily in order to come back up. Then you would also have to take off the mulch in the spring. Camellias are also really nice plants and will survive the winter very well. My zone 7 camellia is in bad soil, comletely unprotected, and still flowers every spring, and some times the flowers completly cover the entire bush. Its about 10-12 years old so it went through alot of cold winters. They stay green all year, but only flower in the spring so if you would be down their in mid april to early may you may not ever see any flowers. Good luck and try to post pics!
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Plants you can plant right into our sandy soils?

Comments (2)

SusieQsie_Fla

Michael AKA Leekle2ManE

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