Gardening in Sandy Soil: What to Plant?

By Julie Boudreau

Sandy soils present many challenges for gardeners. Due to the particular composition of this type of soil, the water used for irrigation is quickly drained and the nutrients quickly washed away. Although a generous supply of organic matter can help improve sandy soil, the best practice is to make do with what you have. That is, to choose plants that are happy in these soils.

Choose the Right Palette

With years of observation and gardening behind me, I have come to discover that each type of soil accommodates certain plants better than others. I didn’t invent anything, you know that. Hundreds of agronomists, horticultural professionals and university researchers have already paved the way. Lists of plants that grow in heavy soils, soggy soils, acid soils… there are loads of them!

For my part, I call it “my palette” of plants. When I design a garden or an old aunt asks me for advice, I watch the course of the sun, I dig a hole to see the consistency of the soil and I listen to the wind. Then, I decide of the palette. The palette is composed of plants that will grow perfectly in the environment offered to them. The palette is made of sure values. They are also typical plants of this environment.

This palette is very much inspired by nature (are my permaculturist tendencies showing?), because what grows naturally in sandy soil, in a forest or on a shore, has a very good chance of growing well in a sandy garden. It is also built by visiting different gardens and seeing what works and what does not work. And finally it is inspired by my own garden-laboratory which is in a sandy-loamy soil!

So, What do we Plant?

The idea here is to make a selection of plants perfectly suited to growing in sandy soil. When I was a student in horticulture, about thirty years ago, we were taught to modify the soil according to the plants we wanted to grow. If the soil presented a challenge, it was excavated and replaced with “good soil”. But in the end, it required a lot of work and this approach was the complete opposite of respecting ecosystems.

Here’s why I’m definitely a fan of the famous phrase “the right plant in the right place”. In sandy soil, it is necessary to forget about plants which like rich and slightly humid soils. Cultivating larkspur or beebalms in sandy soil is a tough job. It is necessary to choose plants that appreciate excessive drainage, temporary droughts and poor soils.

So here is a small list of suggestions, taken from my palette of plants for sandy soils:

Trees

• Maidenhair tree (Ginkgo biloba); H: 65 ft (20m); L: 25 ft (8m); Exposure: Sun, partial shade; USDA zone 3 to 8
• Bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa); H: 65 ft (20m); L: 65 ft (20m); Exposure: Sun; USDA zone 3 to 8
• Scarlet oak (Quercus coccinea); H: 65 ft (20m); L: 50 ft (15m); Exposure: Sun; USDA zone 4 to 9
• Kentucky coffee tree (Gymnocladus dioicus); H: 65 ft (20m); L: 50 ft (15m); Exposure: Sun; USDA zone 3 to 8
• Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis); H: 50 ft (15m); L: 25 ft (8m); Exposure: Sun, partial shade; USDA zone 2 to 9
• Weeping white mulberry (Morus alba ‘Pendula’); H: 10 ft (3m); L: 13 ft (4m); Exposure: Sun; USDA zone 4 to 8
• Eastern white pine (Pinus strobus); H: 65 ft (20m); L: 22 ft (7m); Exposure: Sun, partial shade; USDA zone 3 to 8
• Red pine (Pinus resinosa); H: 13 ft (4m); L: 40 ft (12m); Exposure: Sun; USDA zone 2 to 5
• Scotch pine (Pinus sylvestris); H: 25 ft (8m); L: 33 ft (10m); Exposure: Sun; USDA zone 2 to 7
• Amur cork tree (Phellodendron amurense); H: 40 ft (12m); W: 33 ft (10m); Exposure: Sun; USDA zone 3 to 7

Shrubs

• Japanese quince (Chaenomeles japonica); H: 3 ft (1m); L: 4 ft (1.5m); Exposure: Sun; USDA zone 5 to 9
• Barberry (Berberis thunbergii); H: 2 to 6 ft (0.6-2m); L: 2 to 4 ft (0.6-1.5m); Exposure: Sun, partial shade; USDA zone 4 to 8
• Dyer’s broom (Genista tinctoria); H: 3 ft (1m); L: 3 ft (1m); Exposure: Sun; USDA zone 4 to 7
• Japanese umbrella pine (Pinus densiflora ‘Umbraculifera’); H: 6 ft (2m); L: 10 ft (3m); Exposure: Sun; USDA zone 3 to 7
• Purple flowering raspberry (Rubus odoratus); H: 4 ft (1.5m); L: 6 ft (2m); Exposure: Sun, partial shade, shade; USDA zone 3 to 8
• Mock orange (Philadelphus coronarius); H: 2 to 6 ft (0.75-2m); L: 2 to 6 ft (0.5-2m); Exposure: Sun, partial shade; USDA zone 4 to 8

Tall perennials (3 feet or more)

• Small globe thistle (Echinops ritro); H: 2 to 4 ft (60 to 150 cm); L: 2 ft (60 cm); Exposure: Sun; USDA zone 3 to 8
• Feather reed grass (Calamagrostis x acutiflora); H: 4 ft (120 cm); W: 3 ft (80 cm); Exposure: Sun; USDA zone 5 to 9
• Catchfly (Silene coronaria); H: 3 ft (75 cm); L: 2 ft (45 cm); Exposure: Sun, partial shade; USDA zone 4 to 8
• Culver’s root (Veronicastrum virginicum); H: 4 ft (150 cm); L: 3 ft (100 cm); Exposure: Sun, partial shade; USDA zone 3 to 8
• Garden iris (Iris x germanica); H: 2 to 3 ft (60-100 cm); L: 1 ft (30 cm); Exposure: Sun; USDA zone 3 to 10
• Blue false indigo (Baptisia australis); H: 2 to 3 ft (60-100 cm); L: 2 to 3 ft (60-90 cm); Exposure: Sun, partial shade; USDA zone 3 to 9

Medium-sized perennials (1 to 3 feet)

• Yarrow (Achillea spp.); H: 1 to 3 ft (30-70 cm); L: 1 to 3 ft (40-75 cm); Exposure: Sun, partial shade; USDA zone 3 to 9
• Gas plant (Dictamnus albus); H: 3 ft (75 cm); L: 2 ft (50 cm); Exposure: Sun; USDA zone 3 to 8
• Cranesbill (Geranium spp.); H: 1 to 3 ft (30-75 cm); L: 1 to 2 ft (30-50 cm); Exposure: Sun, partial shade; USDA zone 3 to 9
• Blazing star (Liatris spicata); H: 2 to 3 ft (45-100 cm); L: 1 to 2 ft (30-50 cm); Exposure: Sun, partial shade; USDA zone 3 to 8
• Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia fulgida); H: 1 to 3 ft (40-70 cm); L: 2 ft (50 cm); Exposure: Sun, partial shade; USDA zone 3 to 7
• Russian sage (Salvia yangii, formerly Perovskia atriplicifolia); H: 2 to 3 ft (60-90 cm); W: 3 ft (75 cm); Exposure: Sun; USDA zone 5 to 9
• Perennial sage (Salvia nemorosa); H: 1 to 2 ft (30-50 cm); L: 1 to 2 ft (30-60 cm); Exposure: Sun; USDA zone 4 to 8

Small perennials (up to 1 foot)

• English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia); H: 12 to 24 in (30-60 cm); L: 24 in (60 cm); Exposure: Sun; USDA zone 5 to 8
• Lambs’ ears (Stachys byzantina); H: 12 in (30 cm); L: 18 in (45 cm); Exposure: Sun; USDA zone 4 to 8
• Moss phlox (Phlox subulata); H: 3 in (10 cm); L: 20 in (50 cm); Exposure: Sun; USDA zone 3 to 9
• Blanket flower (Gaillardia x grandiflora); H: 12 to 15 in (30-40 cm); L: 12 in (30 cm); Exposure: Sun; USDA zone 3 to 10
• Creeping stonecrop (Sedum spp.); H: 2 to 12 in (5 to 30 cm); L: 1 in (25 cm); Exposure: Sun; USDA zone 3 to 8

Legend:
H = Height
W = Width