Sand(y) rose bed!
SoFL Rose z10
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
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seil zone 6b MI
9 years agoRelated Discussions
Create paths instead of grass around rose beds
Comments (25)They delivered 4 yards in a big dump truck. We shoveled it into a wheelbarrow and spread it from there about 2 - 3 inches deep with one of those short-tined rakes. Watering it in and walking over it compresses the rocks together and over time it compacts tightly and is great to walk on WITH shoes. The inserted stones are broken pieces of cement pavers. I broke some that I had then went to KMart where they give away their broken pieces. The color is a medium metal gray that darkens when wet. Weeds that sprout in the granite dust are easily pulled out. There is weed cloth underneath - the 15-yr kind from Lowes. It has a very tight weave. Nothing is going to come through that stuff. So glad you like it, Sammy. We're very pleased with how it turned out. We moved our Black & Decker shed last weekend so I have to get more stone to extend the path and cover a potting area. Hopefully, it will only take a yard. BTW, the dogs don't mind walking on it, but human bare feet hate it. The stones are sharp and stick in your feet. Sherry...See Moresoil for new rose bed
Comments (6)Clay plus sand equals concrete. Adding sand will make it worse, not better. While it is a possible to lighten a clay soil with sand, you have to add so much more sand than clay that it is simply not practical to do. You would actually end up removing most of the soil present to make room for the additional sand. What you want to add is lots and lots of compost. Compost actually improves a sandy soil or a clayey soil. It improves an alkaline soil as well as an acid soil. It is truly wonderful stuff. You can use any kind, compost from your own bin, community yard waste compost, composted horse manure, what ever is available to you. Bagged compost from a garden center tends to be only forest products, but it would be better than nothing. Then mulch with some kind of organic material after you plant the rose. This will slowly decompose to continue improving the texture of your soil. Rosefolly...See Moreroses in sand
Comments (6)My home and yard sit on sandy glacial moraine. Unamemded soil is just plain yellow sand with little if any organic material. By using organic fertilizers, lots of horse manure, not picking up lawn clippings, and lots of mulch, I've managed to create a sandy loam that goes down 6-8 inches. I've not hauled in any soil from elsewhere. Each planting hole is amended with compost, manure, leaves, dead birds, rabbits, pets, (BTW my little black kitty that got run over is buried under a rose bush in my garden.) road kill, or anything else that will decompose and enrich the soil. (If I had my way, I'd wish to be buried in my rose garden in a biodegradable container so I could go back to nature as is intended in the circle of life.) Water drains quickly so I water early day, beginning at 4 A.M., in each of eight zones. I also have a fertilizer injector attached to the watering system that injects a dilute fertilizer each time I water. A little fertilizer often is better than a lot all at once. It keeps a steady supply of nutrients available all the time for even growth and constantly replaces those lost through leaching out. If you have fast draining sand, you need to water deeply and often, and supply slow release fertilizers such as manures or organic types like Mill's Magic that will add to the composition of the soil and not leach out like chemical types do. Organics increase the water holding capacity of the soil as it enriches it. They must be added often as they tend to be less effective as they break down and release their nutrients. I don't rake up or burn leaves. I mulch them in the yard and leave them for the worms to work into the soil. Running over large piles of leaves with my garden tractor's mulching blades cuts the leaves into very fine particles which quickly disappear into the grass. I try to get as much of this into the rose beds as I can. I try to use my brain instead of my back and let Mom Nature help me by encouraging what happens naturally if we don't interfere in the processes....See Moreroses on clay vs sand in hot climates and cold climates
Comments (51)Came back to this thread to check on Comte de Chambord, yes, Val grows it, and I agree that needs loamy soil, lots of rain, and healthier if alkaline. Comte is rooting easily in my wet baggie, and rooted easily in heavy out-door rain, while other cuttings rot. Comte has aggressive root and can root easily in alkaline sand, but I need to make my rooting-medium more acidic for the cuttings which are harder to root. Pink Pet definitely likes dry/loamy soil and warmer climate (Val's pic. is awesome). But died in my soaking wet clay last winter....See MoreSoFL Rose z10
9 years agofloridarosez9 Morgan
9 years agoSoFL Rose z10
9 years agoSoFL Rose z10
9 years agosultry_jasmine_nights (Florida-9a-ish)
9 years agofloridarosez9 Morgan
9 years ago
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sultry_jasmine_nights (Florida-9a-ish)