improving sandy soil

bordercars

the soil in my side and frontgarden is poor quality and like sand. we both like grass and really want to get it going. the only bit that did well was an old veg patch. what i want to know is what is the best way to achieve a decent structure.

We live near a sugarbeet plant and wondered if i could get hold of some shreded beet would it help. the thought behind this is an organic gardener that suggests sugar to increase the microbes to defeat weeds and the bulk of the pulp to beef up the soil. I have read that beet pulp will also hold/soak water so if deep enough may help with the root structure.

cootambear

Sandy soil isnt a bad place to start. I believe what you require is to develop a layer of humus - decomposed stringy organic matter. from wiki

Humus is often described as the 'life-force' of the soil.
Yet it is difficult to define humus in precise terms; it is a highly complex substance, the full nature of which is still not fully understood.
In the earth sciences, "humus" means any organic matter which has reached a point of stability, where it will break down no further and might, if conditions do not change, remain essentially as it is for centuries, or millennia.
In agriculture, "humus" is often used simply to mean mature compost, or natural compost extracted from a forest or other spontaneous source for use to amend soil.
Physically, the difference between humus and organic matter is that organic matter is rough looking material, with coarse plant remains still visible, while once fully humified it becomes more uniform in appearance (a dark, spongy, jelly-like substance) and amorphous in structure. That is, it has no determinate shape, structure or character.

Humus is vital because it gives roots something to grab on to and stops nutrients being washed away quickly. I have strip of (pure!) sand in my garden covered in gravel which I am trying to alter by dosing with leaf mold with a sprinkling off urea on top to break down the nitrogen.

Leaf mould raises the acidity which is ok by me because I mainly grow berries.

I think you may be on the right track but you would have to check the impact on ph from beet waste on the soil depending on what you want to grow.

GL

emiff6

If you're going to spend money buying sugar beet pulp, which is sold as cattle feed, you might just as well spend the money on buying some good well rotted farmyard manure, which will do far more good to the level of organic matter in the soil, increase the fertility, and add loads of microbes and bacteria. Either buy in bulk from a farmer, or in bags from a garden centre.

cootambear

some stables and farmers give it away free to get rid