When I discovered builders sand,I dug it out as much as possible,refilled with top soil and compost,as my neighbour (a builder) said the sand would contain salt. I dug out the small Chrysanthemum plants I had already put in,washed all the sandy soil off the roots and replanted. They are looking really good now. They were meant to be lemon,but the sand had turned them pinky when they first went in. Salt in builders sand is a real nuisance,its oozing down a block wall,we recently painted.
The whole truth is an instrument that can only be played by an expert.
I’m not actively trying to change my ph @Chris-P-Bacon, lime was suggested to break up the clay/BS combo not change the ph. A good suggestion, just not suitable in my case - going in the wrong direction, temporary or otherwise 😊
Good point about the salt @Valley Gardener, some builder’s sand is pre-washed but if mine is not, finger’s crossed it’s now sufficiently dilute to be neutralised, having increased the soil depth by two thirds mixing in all that compost, manure and now leaf mould.
It’s pretty workable and much more hospitable now @Fairygirl, just my continued nagging feeling that it needs more actual oomph for permanent planting. Oh to be able to buy decent topsoil, indeed any topsoil - an alien concept here!
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
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Salt in builders sand is a real nuisance,its oozing down a block wall,we recently painted.
No quick solution in your setting and conditions unfortunately.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
It’s pretty workable and much more hospitable now @Fairygirl, just my continued nagging feeling that it needs more actual oomph for permanent planting. Oh to be able to buy decent topsoil, indeed any topsoil - an alien concept here!