Growing vegatation in sand

smfcpacfp · May 7, 2010

Is there any type of vegetation that you can buy that will grow in near beach sand, like a type of grass?

ToadHill · May 7, 2010

Check with your local Co-operative extension or land grant university. I know there are some grasses that will row in very sandy soil but I don't know about just sand. Also the type that will grow in your frost zone will be different than other zones.

smfcpacfp · May 7, 2010

ToadHill said:
Check with your local Co-operative extension or land grant university. I know there are some grasses that will row in very sandy soil but I don't know about just sand. Also the type that will grow in your frost zone will be different than other zones.

I was going to do that, but I thought I would get some ideas from here also. I would say my soil is 90% sand and 10% clay.

alchemysa · May 8, 2010

Around our beach house we have 'Kikuyu'. You probably have it in the US but maybe call it something different. Its basically a very tough lawn and will grow on just about pure beach sand. Once established its very tough and requires little water although it likes water too. Its used a lot on sports fields over here too. But some people hate it. It spreads quite rapidly and can be invasive. It may even be a pest in some areas. Its planted quite easily by just poking runners in the ground. In summer it requires mowing every couple of weeks. It slows down in winter.

Pennisetum clandestinum - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It sounds pretty awful in that wikipedia article but I like it a lot. If you really let it go wild it will take over but its not really that hard to control with a bit of weed killer around the edges or around established trees. Don't know how it would go under snow.

Actually thats it under the tractor in my Avatar, and thats mid-summer with virtually no watering at all.

Edit. Its interesting that the Wiki article says its popular because its cheap. In fact its not cheap at all. Its VERY expensive. As I recall, a little container of seeds smaller than a Coke Can costs a small fortune. Its only cheap if you can get a heap of free runners from someone who already has a kikuyu lawn.