Soil retention isn't a problem with container gardening. Water and nutrient retention is the problem. And sand in a container mix only compounds that problem. But I never suggested that you should use garden dirt in a container. Do you think Al's Mix is the only other option? And yes I am well aware of what is called Al's Mix, that it is unique to the Container Gardening forum here, that it is just 1 person's opinion on what is ideal, and that it has several recipes depending on what is being grown in the particular container. Some on that forum do "rave" about it and some do not. Nothing against Al as he works hard to help lots of people over there. But as I said above thousands of us, gardeners all over the world, have container gardened quite successfully for decades without using it or even knowing it existed. There are hundreds of recipes for making your own soil-less container mixes. Al's Mix is just one of them. And there are probably 15-20 varieties of commercially prepared soil-less mixes available to use, several of them superior to any homemade mix recipe. So don't assume that everyone here uses Al's Mix or even agrees with it? If you choose to use it, fine but then the issues or questions you may have about it need to be addressed to that person, that forum as they might understand why you'd be adding sand to a container mix. As Greg said above, an in ground sandy garden can be made productive with lots of work, lots of amending, and careful moisture monitoring. Containers are something else entirely. Dave

Anyone who's used Al's 5-1-1 or any of the other bark-heavy container mixes knows just how excellent pine bark fines are as both a container substrate and soil amendment. One of my garden beds is situated at the foot of a steep bank that I've been trying to stabilize for a number of years using annual additions of pine bark mulch. Every winter, a good deal of the mulch is blown and deposited in the garden - probably a good 1" of finely textured mulch each year. That bed is consistently my best performer - and, when I pull a soil sample for testing - it is as close to ideally balanced as any of my beds. Having said this, I wouldn't anticipate hardwood chips to perform nearly as well. As kimmr pointed out, there's no "secret" to the system. It's simply consistent addition of copious amount of organic matter. I would add two that, since the wood chips (and I'm assuming a preponderance of conifer wood chips in Gautschi's situation) are very slow to decompose, they provide a better source of OM than some other options. Also, I would guess that the lignins and other chemical components of conifer bark would result in a high level of pure humus once it's fully decomposed.

Check out this list at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower website. They were a great help when we were planning our Native Plant Garden. You can print the whole thing, or just pick and choose those closest to you. Janie Here is a link that might be useful: Native Plant suppliers

I live in central NH, and probably have similar soil (though perhaps finer in texture) since I have fine sandy acid loam. My property is geologically new soil, on the site of a glacial lake, so very little organic matter (and virtually no rocks, unusual for this part of NH.) I am going to respectfully disagree with Ken about the organic matter. I typically add about 6 inches of well aged manure to the entire bed before planting to provide some organic matter and help with moisture retention and mix it in with a spading fork. Then I plant shrubs not adding anything specifically to the planting hole, and mulch well with a layer of cardboard topped with 5" of so of loose wood curls (commercial mulch would do the same thing) that probably weather down to about 3". This helps keep moisture even and weeds down. I usually also edge with the big box store black plastic edging buried to ground level and place a line of bricks inside for the mower wheels to run on to keep out grass. I've done this with my shrub borders and it has worked well with little work, though I do renew the mulch every 2-3 years. My suggestion would be a staggered row of mixed evergreens and several of one type of flowering shrub either sprinkled along the length or in a solid row along one side to give you an ornamental yet functional hedgerow. A full-sized cultivar of Hydrangea paniculata such as Limelight, Pinky Winky, or Quickfire (blooms early July until hard frost) or else Physocarpus/ninebark would work well. In my shrub bed both are healthy, bloom well, and provide long season interest in full to mostly sun. Some other alternatives for part to full sun include some of the PJM family of rhododendrons, Hydrangea arborescens such as Annabelle (needs afternoon shade), or Kalmia/mountain laurel. The only maintenance I do on my H. paniculata and arborescens is a once a year trim of the old blossoms, and I do even less on the ninebark, mountain laurel, and rhododendrons. My evergreens are a mix of Fat Albert blue spruce (probably too large for your use here) and two types of Thuja occidentalis, Sunkist and Techny, but you may want something a bit smaller. This mix is low care, blocks sight relatively well after about 5 growing seasons, and has spring or summer flowers (depending on which of the flowering shrubs you use) and a mix of winter colors. This photo includes several of the plants I mentioned: Coppertina ninebark on the left, a rhododendron, Quickfire Hydrangea (in fall colors - it starts blooming white), Fat Albert blue spruce, and immediately behind the Hydrangea are Thuja Sunkist on the left and Thuja Techny on the right.