HELP! I LIVE IN SAND!!!

What can I do to have a lush garden and green grass when the area I just moved into is saturated with sand? I live in Gilbert, SC. I also seem to have a very very bad gnat problem in warm weather that is driving me to sell my new home!!! LOL!!! Are the gnats this bad because of the sand? If I can find a way to plant grass and flowers will the gnats go away?
I have access to a dump truck and tractor so getting some healthy soil is no problem if need be. I just dont know how to proceed. Thanks for any help.

Have a look around your neighbourhood to find out what has been done to improve the soil situation and what type of plants are growing.
As you have the heavy plant machinery to move soil about, this should be a good area to amend your sandy soil, I live in quite a damp sandy soil area and this means there are very little nutrients held within the soil so for my flower gardens I have added tons of animal (horse manure) over the years and the same for my veg plots, this stuff helps retain moisture into the soil, allows air to stay there at the roots and it also helps feed the plants, and for my Shrub beds, sandy soil can be acidic, I added plenty peat, leaf mold and home made compost, this does the same to the soil as animal manure but has less nutrients for acid loving plans.

I would buy a soil test kit ( very little money) and find out what your PH count is, this will help you find what you need to add to the soil as the wrong stuff will be a waist of cash and kill the plants.

There are as many plants that like sandy soil as there are that like rich wet soil so find out what you want to add, take cost into consideration and then we can help you with planting suggestions, Plants are not cheep so you need to make sure you get the kind to suit your situation. hope this helps a bit and before you know it we can be helping you plan for the type of plans you want and can grow in the right soil type. good luck WeeNel.

I second what WeeNee said. Adding organic material will help a lot in retaining moisture and nutrients. The other question is how shaded are you?

A third vote here for lots of organic material mixed in with the sand to improve it! As far as the gnats--I doubt that has anything to do with the sand (if anything I think sandy soil would be the least conducive to gnats) so getting rid of it most likely won't help with them.

http://www.ehow.com/facts_7773694_sand-gnat-repellent.html

http://www.beaufortcountylibrary.org/htdocs-sirsi/sandfly.htm

Just a little info on those sand gnats that might be, at least, informative. We have biting midges here too and we all hate them. They are not only pests to humans, they also cause blue tongue, a lethal disease, in deer.

There is no quick fix, but yes, add organic material for a lush yard. then pack it full of xeroscaping plants PS Irises love poor soil (:

I agree with all of the above.

Theres Iris, Lavenders, Sedums, Achilias, Cacti, Thymes, Yuccas, Hebe's,Aubrieta, I could go on and on but not knowing to what extent you have improved your soil and what type of garden you want, there is no point but,I would go to the library and look at books with Pictures of gardens made on very sandy soil, maybe even rock garden plants as they will also grow as they do on very little and poor soil, hope you find what your looking for and you can get back to us with pictures, look forward to that,
Good luck, WeeNel.

My new place- 25 years ago- was sandy with few trees. We had no leaf rake for 5 years.

We planted containers and layered newspaper, leaves and bagged manure as mulch every year. I was the guy with the minivan stealing bagged leaves every fall, and I had a list of the homes that chopped them.

By moving the containers around and doing this, after about four years we had @ six inches of good soil. The worms we attracted did most of the mixing up of sand and humus.

Just be patient and consistent.

And yes, irises did fine from day 1; just add bone meal as you plant.

I agree with previous posts-- soil amendment is essential. I was raised on a sandy soil farm in Oklahoma (zone 7). We had wonderful watermelons and canteloupes. We had gladiolas, zinnias, cosmos, marigolds, purslane and portulaca (rose moss), old roses, abelias, iris, lantana, daylilies, hydrangeas (need shade), daffodils & obedient plant, that I remember. In addition to the above, as an adult when I've had sandy or sandy loam soil (or now that we have heavy clay, a raised bed is a good place for xeriscape plants), I've had great luck with lavender, several other herbs, dianthus, sweet william, yarrow (achillea), catmint, sedums, lamb's ears, several salvias (sage), verbena-on-a-stick (bonariensis), Purple Homestead spreading verbena, gaillardias, chameleon plant (will grow in partial sun, dry shade and also in shade in heavy, damp soil), amaranthus and periwinkle (annual). Your county extension office should have lists of plants for your type of soil and sun/shade situations. Good luck!