New Lawn

[Dana W.]

:?: I live in the south west corner of Wise county, and I've had an area 80'x80' scraped for a new site bilt house, now that the house is bilt, I have NOTHING growing around the house, the lot was scraped last sept., and NOTHING has grown in this area, the area is covered with a fine white sand, and under that is normal looking sand, any idea's on what to do with this lot would be appreciated. :?

[drchelo]

I would think that there are a couple of things you can do - depending on what you want - and what you want to spend! If I had a blank slate to start with, I would choose to xeriscape as much as possible - using rock gardening and some bedding plants. This way, I could use as many native species as are appropriate for your area, and cut down on water use.
If you wanted a green lawn, starting with bare sand, you would probably need to level it with purchased topsoil and compost, and then sod it in - which is expensive and water-intensive.
Call your county Agricultural Extension Agent and find out what kinds of landscaping plants grow well in your area - that is one place to start..and there are a lot of folks in this Group with a lot of experience who will be able to give you lots of ideas.

[Mr. Clean]

Not being familiar with the native soil in your area. May I ask, is the sand on your property the native soil for the area?

[Dchall_San_Antonio]

Has anyone done the finish grading on the landscape to ensure the water drains away from the house? This step is often left out when people act as their own contractor in building a house. Sometimes the prime contractor will leave it out if he thinks he can get away with it. It is important that your new house be above grade by 4 inches minimum and that all the water drain away from it during the hardest of rains.

If that was done, then you got took by someone. The finish grader should have had a shovel and a truck to haul off the stuff you have and deliver a nice landscaper's mix to smooth in. In any case, you should have been left with a ready-to-go surface.

It is not too late to call in a finish grader. He will take away about 6-8 inches of what you have and bring in some good stuff. In this case, you need 6-8 inches of a clay/sand/loam mix. Compost is good stuff but you cannot rely on it to build depth for you. It disappears completely leaving zero volume. So you need sand, clay, and loam. Usually it is called landscaper's mix.

[Mr. Clean]

I'll have to disagree with Dchall's suggestion to remove that much soil (6-8 inches) only to be replaced with soil not native to the area. It is, IMO, a considerable waste of time and money, not to mention attempting to create an artificial envrionment. Where there is sandy soil, there are plants which will grow there. With the addition of organic soil ammendments and selection of plant materials suitable to that enviroment will go a long way towards homeowner satisfaction.