Cathy Isom answers two questions with some interesting facts. What is green sand and why do you need it in your garden. That’s coming up on This Land of Ours.
Green sand is an organic soil amendment that’s fabulous for loosening up heavy soils and improving drainage. Green sand is the bottom sediment deposit layer in ancient oceans. It adds potassium and a number of micro-nutrients to the soil. Green sand doesn’t burn plants and is safe to put on your soil at any time of year. Unlike some soil amendments, it won’t leach away.
Green sand contains potash, which is important for overall plant health and is vital to plants during their entire life cycle. It helps plants resist and disease and is crucial for flowering and producing fruit.
The greenish color comes from minerals such as iron ore and glauconite. Surprisingly, it’s also a good conditioner for sandy soils.
Sand doesn’t readily absorb water, allowing it to pass through. This is good for drainage, but it also means nutrients are leaching out. Green sand absorbs up to ten times the amount of water versus regular sand, without water-logging plants. In fact, in a study at Rutgers University, researchers planted potatoes in sandy soil that had been amended with green sand. They saw a 16% increase in yields over a garden in un-amended soil.
I’m Cathy Isom…