wolfyhound

In the last week I've spent hours clearing briar bushes out of my backyard. I own 1/3 acre of sand hill(for example, before it was cleared for a home, it was blackjack oaks) and my home in sort of across the middle, so I guess 1/6 of an acre? It has some sort of weedy huge tree(someone told me it was a sort of cherry but I've never seen cherries?) about in the middle and a couple pines and blackjack oaks scattered. There's a little patchy bit of grass but becuase it's so sandy, not much has ever really grown, except briars and the occasional prickly pear cacti.

I am thinking of putting orinoco bananas along the fencing probably, but there's a LOT of empty yard. I will be building a outdoor lizard pen, but that doesn't take up much room.

Other than putting in raised beds(I have a LOT of raised bed space in the front yard), does anyone have ideas of things that would live/thrive in sandy soil with semi-shade in NW Florida? Any cover crop type plants I could put in(grass not doing very well so far).

Plus, any ideas on how to keep briars from returning, since mostly these were cut down at ground level, pulling up the roots is impossible. Way too many.

I'm attempting to find a way to get a iPhone video up to show the backyard, but if it continues to fail, I'll just draw up a blueprint of the yard instead.

2woodensticks

how about muscadine grapes??

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wolfyhound

There were grape vines back there that we cut back, non-bearing. It's an idea, especially in the back corner.

Richard

As the shoots come up, wipe them with a cloth (diaper is great) that is doped with either straight Glyphosate or Triclopyr 4E. Avoid getting it on the ground. As you walk around the yard, keep the cloth in a dedicated 5-gallon plastic bucket so that no "drips" fall on the ground, poisoning desirable plants. The herbicide will kill both the shoot and a portion of the roots underground. Repeat every few months until they stop coming up. This is the standard USDA method of clearing poison oak.

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wolfyhound

sadyard_zps579d9e84.mp4 Video by wolfy-hound | Photobucket

This 'should' be a video of the backyard.

Thanks so much for the herbicide info, I'll look for it tomorrow! And get a dedicated bucket for just it. I don't like poisoning everything! Also, would it work on sandspurs? I have a patch of those out at my dirt road.

I'd forgotten that lantana did well here, so I'm adding that to the plan for the back yard.

TRAY

Dude you pretty much got an open book right there! Beside clean it up, if you got the money and time landscape it a bit! A nice size patio off the deck, a small pond/waterfall bananas, cannas, palm trees and whatever else and your good to go.If you need ideas search the web and Utube for landscaped yards. Make it your own little backyard oasis.

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wolfyhound

Yep. The limitation is money and the sand. A lot of stuff simply won't grow in it. I thought about ponds but Mosquitos and pest animals made me decide against it.

Darkman

Florida is all sand you just have to add tons and tons and tons of organic matter. Palm trees love sand as does Pampas grass. Citrus trees grow in primarily sandy soils. Don't give up on a water feature because of mosquitoes that's what mosquito dunks are for also you can put small fish in there called mosquito fish that eat mosquito larvae.

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Darkman in Pensacola

AS ALWAYS IMHO AND YOUR MILEAGE MAY DIFFER!!!!!!!!

Life - Some assembly required, As is no warranty, Batteries not included, Instructions shipped separately and are frequently wrong!

Kentucky Bourbon - It may not solve the problem but it helps to make it tolerable!

Statistics - Data that analyst twist to support the insane opinions of those that pay them.

sultry_jasmine_nights

I am on 4 acres in NE FL. Part of it is wooded and has pine and hardwoods that have composted leaf litter and over the years has made nice dark rich dirt.
The acre around the house was horrible sand and one corner of the front yard has a natural spring underground and poor drainage. That area has lots of red clay.
So the best area for planting here is the area with the sand because it gets the most sun and no tree roots.
So I started making flower/planting beds that are amended. First we started two large compost bins by building them with pallets we got free on Craigslist.
Then started composting leaves, grass, chicken manure, and whatever else I could find or get. I also use coffee grounds from Starbucks which they will give you free by the bagful if you ask. Sometimes you can find horse stables or individuals on CL that will give you free or cheap manure for your composting. It usually is cheaper than buying the Black Cow at H. Depot or Lowes etc. Of course it needs to 'cool off' in the compost for awhile before you can use it. Nanners love manure!!

Then we starting raising rabbits. We build two vermicompost bins under their hutches with plans I found on the internet. This gives us a lot of nice worm compost which is great for plants.

After a few years, the new planting beds now have nice rich soil full of earthworms. Before, there were no worms anywhere in that sandy soil. We also made a huge edible garden area and amended the soil in it too. It can be done but takes a little time but well worth it!!

sultry_jasmine_nights

I also grow waterlilies and lotus in water containers. You just add a little piece of the mosquito dunk. The mosquitos still lay eggs in the water but the babies eat the dunk infused water and die. It doesn't seem to affect the dragonfly babies because we have tons of them around here and dragonflies will eat mosquitos in every stage of development. I think we probably have way fewer mosquitos than our neighbors. Fish will also eat mosquitos. I have a small pond that I keep my koi in without my water plants because the greedy guts fish eat up all my plants lol.

Darkman

Well done Jasmine. I keep about a third of an acre buried in about four inches of oak tree leaves and pine straw. It really makes a difference and it does'nt take long.

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Darkman in Pensacola

AS ALWAYS IMHO AND YOUR MILEAGE MAY DIFFER!!!!!!!!

Life - Some assembly required, As is no warranty, Batteries not included, Instructions shipped separately and are frequently wrong!

Kentucky Bourbon - It may not solve the problem but it helps to make it tolerable!

Statistics - Data that analyst twist to support the insane opinions of those that pay them.

wolfyhound

I've had this place about 10 years, with layers of pine needles and oak leaves. Still sand underneath. The blackjack oaks in the area still have sand despite decades of leaf matter. I can't till due to roots.

I'm still hoping to find something to use as a ground cover. Of course, attempting to make the sand into dirt continues but I was hoping to have something I could plant in the existing dirt. I do have a huge compost pile that's nearly done. But not nearly enough to help much more than one small area.

Kat2

I gardened on pure throwable clay which is very much like sand it seems. There is no way I could have generated enough compost to make decent dirt for my small beds. I brought loads and loads of leaf mulch from the city which I applied to the surface; I didn't til. I also mulched paths/trees/bushes with free woodhips which broke down; resulting dirt from paths was tossed in my beds and replenished. After 5 years I had decent soil; after 25 I had about 24" of pure black gold.

Clay county at their Green Springs "dump" has free compost; I don't believe you have to be a resident but you do have to pick it up. Make friends with someone who owns horses and pick up lots of that. A tree trimmer will probably dump chips for you; finding one can be tricky. If you had normal soil, you might only need 5 or 6 pickup loads of "stuff" to see results; given my experience with clay I figure you're looking at 20 dumptruck loads to make a dent in 1/3 acre. And you will have to supplement annually or you'll lose momentum.

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