parallon – posted 21 April 2002 00:13
I live in a sandy part of Albuquerque, New Mexico. I am currently leveling out the property to prepare for a lawn. There has never been a lawn on this property. Any suggestions on what I may need to add to the soil. I was told by a friend about something called “Back-to-Earth.” Any help would be greatly appreciated. You can email me at michael.daley@honeywell.com
nottelling – posted 23 February 2003 22:55
We live in Eastern Colorado…ya know.. the sand hills. Hot and dry.
I used soil moist and peat. You need organics in the sand and the peat will give you that. Two things to watch for: Adding Nitrogen in the hotter months will actually burn your plants (peat contains nitrogen) and keep the soil moist grains away from water pipes and drainage. One little spec will swell to the size of a golf ball. It is a polymer that will absorb water and then hold it until the soil needs the water. Then it will release the water. Too much water, like in a drain pipe, means the water never gets released. This plugs your drains etc…A little goes a long way too. Too much will swell and push plantings away and maybe out of the soil.
Planting a low decorative hedge will help shield the grass from blowing sand which seems to settle on your grass and cause it to grow poorly. Not a lot seems to grow in the sand but these two things help. Lilac bushes (mine anyway) have thrived but I planted early in the year to get the roots established before the heat season hit.
desertgrower – posted 17 March 2003 13:24
I was successful in planting a new lawn in the middle of the desert in southern NM. I tilled the soil (if u can call it that) down to a depth of 8 inches added copious amounts of horse manure (cuz it was free) and peat moss. I did this in late winter and watered it often to get the decomposition process going. In the spring I tilled the soil again, added a thin layer of topsoil (from Home Depot) and then Scotts seed starter. I planted bermuda and watered well. The result was a nice thick green lawn by late spring.