Ann – posted 16 June 2004 12:55
We live in Central Florida. Have a beautiful lawn of St. Augustine grass, green and healthy even in deep shade. My husband wants to cover the entire lawn in sand from the phosphate mine (untreated). Is this OKAY? I can only envision a yard full of sand and dead grass underneath. Please advise before i have to go out and by sand buckets and pails for the biggest sand box in the neighborhood.
jr – posted 16 June 2004 14:16
Unless somebody else checks my arithmetic and finds I have made an error, then at a depth of .25 inches, you should have a little over half an acre of actual turf area to place 18 cubic yards of sand as a topdressing. That would be fine and not kill the grass, however, your husband should at least have a good reason for it.
As for the phosphate mine part of your question, I wouldn’t really know of any possible problems.
Alex_in_FL – posted 17 June 2004 01:35
Ann:
1. Agree with JR – what is the purpose and or need to do this?2. Phosphate mined sand may is treated with various chemicals including sulfuric acid. Therefore there may be pH or sulfur content concerns. I don’t know how all the sulfur will impact the plants (it might be good for them)3. Pesonally I would just buy some river or yellow sand and not have any worries. But first I would make sure I needed to top dress or level my yard. Of course, I belong to the if it ain’t broke don’t fix it Club.
best of luck
Alex
jr – posted 17 June 2004 07:00
If that is the case, then there shouldn’t be any problem. The material that ends up in a fertilizer bag as the phosphorous component is the result of rock phosphate treated with sulfuric acid, or phosphoric acid, depending on whether the desired product is super phosphate or triple super phosphate, respectively. Sulfer, in sufficient quantities, will act to lower the pH of your soil. However, sulfer is often part of the inert carrier on a granule of dry fertilizer, and sometimes expressed as a percentage of the weight on the label by a fourth number, behind the potassium content. Also, sulfer is a minor element required by plants anyway.