Sharp sand comes in various grades - some are used in the building industry and may not be suitable for horticulture as it may not be coarse enough or may contain salt as it's obtained by dredging.
You can buy horticultural grade sand from GCs etc but it is much more expensive - many gardeners buy the building grade sand and leave it out in the rain to wash any contamination out.
If you're buying the building type check that it's a coarse grain.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Pauly, it is what my builder calls it. It is gritty sand. I had some left from a hard landscaping project and my builder who is a keen gardener said to use it to 'open up' compost and clay. I also use it to mix with compost for seeds and just about everything. I think it is about £1.30 or so from a builders merchant for a small sack; but much cheaper if you get them to deliver one of those huge 1 ton bags.
Thank you for the info artjak and Dovefromabove. What ratio would you use for a seed mix? I also had given to me a bag of John Innes young plant compost, would this be ok to use as a seed compost?
I'm pretty sure the weed and feed breaks down after a short period of time - the stuff from my local tip is just as good in texture as the homebase multipurpose compost I have bought. I also use a sieve but I bought a hand held riddle - much cheaper and takes up less room in the shed than the fancy one on a stand if you arent using it 24/7 !
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Sharp sand comes in various grades - some are used in the building industry and may not be suitable for horticulture as it may not be coarse enough or may contain salt as it's obtained by dredging.
You can buy horticultural grade sand from GCs etc but it is much more expensive - many gardeners buy the building grade sand and leave it out in the rain to wash any contamination out.
If you're buying the building type check that it's a coarse grain.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Pauly, it is what my builder calls it. It is gritty sand. I had some left from a hard landscaping project and my builder who is a keen gardener said to use it to 'open up' compost and clay. I also use it to mix with compost for seeds and just about everything. I think it is about £1.30 or so from a builders merchant for a small sack; but much cheaper if you get them to deliver one of those huge 1 ton bags.
Thank you for the info artjak and Dovefromabove. What ratio would you use for a seed mix? I also had given to me a bag of John Innes young plant compost, would this be ok to use as a seed compost?
I wouldn't use it as seed compost - it'll have too many nutrients - but it'll be fine for pricking out and potting on so very useful
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Thank you Dovefromabove i'll have to get a bag of seed compost soon or maybe I'll have a go at making my own.
bumping this up for Edd
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I'm pretty sure the weed and feed breaks down after a short period of time - the stuff from my local tip is just as good in texture as the homebase multipurpose compost I have bought. I also use a sieve but I bought a hand held riddle - much cheaper and takes up less room in the shed than the fancy one on a stand if you arent using it 24/7 !