Peter

I used to live in an area where the soil was very sandy and I was continually working it to improve the quality. Here are just some of the things that helped.
1. Compost bin. All the grass clippings, old newspapers, vegetable peelings went in there, topping each layer with chicken manure (from the hen house) for quick heat infusion.
2. Mulches. Anything that I could get my hands on would be tossed on the surface to protect the soil from drying out too much. Woodchip was great, also fallen leaves from deciduous trees.
3. Animal manure. Living in the country it was quite common to see roadside stalls selling (or giving away) bags of horse, cow, pig poo. If it was too fresh, it went into the compost bin, but the older stuff was dug into the soil and left for a bit before planting.

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Australian Gum Trees

Razor

I'll have to try some of your suggestions. Our soil is very dry and not fertile. It is tough to grow some plants in our yard. If I could find some manure, then we should be able to grow plants that we normally could not. Thanks!

Peter

Is your soil sandy or just regular soil that doesn't get enough moisture?

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Australian Gum Trees