I have sandy soil too, though there is no rock or gravel whatsoever. Ignore the ants, they can not damage your garden. With sandy soil, you need very large amounts of organic matter. It will get absorbed in the soil over time, improving water retention. The fact that tomatoes did well there means also that the soil is not bad. It just needs to go from sandy to loamy. You can lay a large amount of compost, wood chips, manure, dead leaves, or organic grass clippings on top. Although that will restrict your choices for a few years, it will not be too much work, and the final soil will be of the highest quality. Your choice restriction comes from the fact that many veggies do not grow well in or through unfinished organic matter. Fortunately, asparagus tomatoes and zucchini do grow well in that case, which means youcan garden this year, and next year you will have a much better bed already. So, my advice: 1) take out what rocks you can take 2) cover bed with organic matter. You should be able to get manure, wood chips, grass clippings (beware of those treated with herbicide) and dead leaves for free. You can start with six inches but plan on adding one foot over the years. Add cinder block sides if it becomes too high. 3) the soil will take time to warm now and your season will be slightly late compared to your neighbor. Do not mind it. Choose section for asparagus and plant crowns through the mulch. 4) in May, plant tomatoes and zucchini in the other part of the bed. Plant plants through the mulch, not seeds. 5) You can also plant pole beans on the north side of the bed. They will benefit neighboring veggies, and they like sandy soil. You will need a trellis for them. You can also consider potatoes, they, too, do not mind growing in and through mulch. Melons would be just as good, but they need warmer soil. 6) starting next year you can try seeding veggies that need finer soil (carrots, lettuce), where the mulch has broken down best. Replenish mulch where bigger plants are being grown, so you maintain the long term feeding of the soil. It is always best to add mulch in the Fall.

Thank you all for the responses. texas-weed, I have not taken any offense to your comments, and will continue to welcome any feedback. Yours is especially helpful because of your expertise with this area. Would you be able to speak to the success rate of Zoysia in this area? I've some some really deep emerald grasses in the shopping centers that look absolutely beautiful. I've been told that this is Zoysia. All of the trees have some degree of issue with surface roots. I have three trees, however, each one is about 75 ft from the other. I'm posting a link to some other shots to give you an idea of the canopy. You can see that I have been attempting to raise the canopy and thin the tree to allow for more sun. It seems that the builder didn't put a lot of through into planning this yard, because I have giant Crape Myrtles growing right under the eaves, and a Live Oak no more than 12-14ft from my house. I am not a fan of St. Augustine, and I would like to avoid it if at all possible. The neighbor has it, and the other half of my lawn that is divided by the cement walkway is thoroughly St. Augustine. At some point I had hoped to install a french drain for drainage and form a physical barrier to re-establish the Bermuda on that side. This feels more and more unlikely by the day. I do have issues with erosion, and I also have trouble setting the mower low enough (though I can mow at the second to lowest setting if I'm VERY careful) because of the exposed roots. I would like to level the lawn somehow, or build it up and regrade it, but I have no idea where to even begin attempting this. I'm concerned that the lawn will be much higher than the sidewalk. Thank you for the information about Common Bermuda, I'll check out the Tiffway 419 to see if that hybrid resembles my lawn. You may have noticed that the grass was pretty high in my previous photos, and that is because I was working long hours. I'm currently working on cutting it back down to the second setting on my mower. Here is a link to the gallery showing the tree: http://img695.imageshack.us/g/img1290i.jpg/ Please disregard the butchered Crape Myrtles if they are apparent, the previous owner was very hands off with this yard and the gentleman performing the lawn services apparently subscribes to the popular belief about cutting them back in the winter. Again, all feedback is much appreciated.

remember to add mulch to protect the soil from the still hot summer sun & winter rains dried grass clippings or chopped straw works very well to place by hand between seedlings start with a thin layer 1/2" or so & build up tea leaves or used coffee grounds also work as mulch, but the coffee grounds splash up on the leaves, so you might want it as the bottom layer under grass or straw. makes a big difference in moisture level of soil & will help improve your soil for next year start a compost pile or bin now & you'll have something within a few weeks to add to the bottom of your watering can or bucket to use as compost tea (nothing fancy just put the water & a few cups of compost in -- then water your plot with it) You can try planting a 2'x2' corner when it's ready & figure out how the rest of the plot is going to be planted. That way you have something going right away. Lettuces, greens, & radishes mature quickly and you'll be rewarded sooner for your hard work.

Growing most pole beans on short supports is like trying to house-train a moose. Messes will happen. ;-) My best recommendation would be to use a trellis (such as fencing) rather than poles, and train the vines horizontally as much as possible. You might also want to prune the first runner immediately, to encourage several smaller runners instead (note: this can backfire with some of the more rampant varieties, including some Romanos). It's too late now to change planting... but in the future, to grow shorter pole beans, one method is to crowd them. This will lead to fewer & shorter runners, but it also runs the risk of disease problems, should moisture & cool weather weaken the plants. Note that "moisture" includes overhead irrigation. In future years, for the community garden plot, you might want to look into growing "half-runner" bean varieties. As their name implies, they are only half-hearted climbers. Some Appalachian beans, and many "cornfield" beans, have shorter runners.