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Gardening in Sandy Soil: What to Plant?

  • Julie Boudreau

    • 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.

    Image: Editing Mathilde Bourgeois on Canva

    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

    All white pines do wonderfully well in sandy soils, whether they are trees, shrubs or feature plants, like this weeping variety. Photo: Julie Boudreau

    Shrubs

    Tall perennials (3 feet or more)

    Culver’s root (Veronicastrum viginicum) is a little-known plant that is suitable for a multitude of situations. Photo: Julie Boudreau

    Medium-sized perennials (1 to 3 feet)

    Lamb’s ears, is a fabulous plant for sandy soils. Speedwell and barberry behind are also interesting in these conditions. Photo: Julie Boudreau

    Small perennials (up to 1 foot)

    It is already well known that Blanket flowers like very well-drained soils. It is therefore a good candidate for a garden in sandy soil. Photo: Julie Boudreau

    Legend:
    H = Height
    W = Width

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