Many of Perth’s soils are notoriously sandy. While this suits our native plants, it can make it difficult to grow a lot of common herbs, veggies and cut flowers. Sandy soil doesn’t retain moisture or nutrients well and lacks the organic content that most veggies need to succeed. 

Don’t fear! With a bit of effort, you can turn your sandy patch into nutritious, living soil. Here’s how.

1. Add Organic Matter Regularly

Organic matter is what gives your soil a good structure, making it better able to hold onto moisture and nutrients. Organic matter will also feed the microorganisms in the soil which is essential for growing a thriving veggie patch. 

Add organic matter regularly to your soil by:

• Adding compost – either your own or a quality mature compost mix

• Adding composted manure

• Burying the results of your Bokashi composting system in the garden

• Chopping and dropping – when you prune, just chop up your prunings and drop them on your garden beds to break down in place

• Mulching with leaves, grass clippings etc – just gather up and put on your garden beds when you can

Making your own compost is one of the best and cheapest ways to regularly add organic matter to your soil. Read our Beginner’s Guide to Composting to get started.

Recommended Products

NutraRich Mature Compost		A high quality compost made in WA. Contains 60% humus making it ideal for Perth soils. Holds up to 90% of its weight in water and contains nutrients that are released slowly as your plants need them.
Piggypost - Mature Compost by DSATCO		Another excellent WA-made compost that will help your soil retain carbon, nutrients and water. Composed with approximately 70% humus and enhanced with vital microbial life.
Blended Manure Mix from The Green Life Soil Co.		A weed-free blend of aged sheep and cow manure. Improves water retention, activates beneficial microbial life, and unlocks nutrient availability for stronger plant growth.

2. Mix Clay into Your Soil

Adding clay to your sandy soil can help bring a bit of balance and improve the soil’s water and nutrient holding capacity. There are two types of clay for home use in Perth: bentonite and kaolin.

If you’re adding clay to an established garden bed, use sparingly. If you’re starting a bed from scratch, use at a higher dose. Clay is usually added by mixing in with your soil then wetting down. You should be able to see the difference in water holding ability immediately and can add more clay if you need to. You can also add clay to a planting hole if working with an established garden bed.

Recommended Products

Cassies Clay (Kaolin Clay) by The Green Life Soil Co		A quality blend of Kaolin clay (75%) with some other silts and minerals. This mix has a low pH (5.5) so can help remedy alkaline soils while improving water-holding capacity. We recommend adding it to your soil with biochar and/or organic material.
Sand Remedy by The Green Life Soil Co		A natural mixture of calcium bentonite with other minerals and beneficial microbes. Specially formulated to add clay content to the soil while also increasing essential trace elements and microbes to improve nutrient availability for your plants.

3. Try Biochar

Biochar is a specialised charcoal that holds onto water and nutrients, and provides a home for millions of beneficial soil microbes. Adding it to your sandy soil is a great solution that offers long term benefits. Since it’s so stable, it’ll increase your soil’s organic matter and carbon levels on a permanent basis.

Recommended Products

Charlie Charcoal from The Green Life Soil Co.

A great biochar option made in Perth for Perth gardens. Charlie Charcoal™ is quite unique among biochars as it has a very low pH, so is beneficial to people in coastal regions that struggle in limestone/sandy soil.

4. Mulch Your Garden Beds

Always add mulch to your garden beds. Not only will it prevent evaporation and improve water retention, it’ll also break down over time and add more organic matter to your soil. Either buy a high quality mulch or make your own at home using organic materials you have on hand.

Recommended Products

NutraRich Straw Mulch		An excellent mulch option for veggie beds. Made from partially composted straw and chicken manure. Use it to hold moisture in the soil over summer, then work it into garden beds to condition the soil and feed soil life in autumn.
DSATCO Triple-C Mulch		Triple-C is a blend of cereal crops, chicken manure, and canola. It is a nitrogen-rich and water-retaining mulch capable of reducing soil temperature by 5-10 degrees, conserving water, and providing probiotics to enrich the soil.

5. Water Deeply 

Shallow watering in sandy soils doesn’t get down to the root zone where plants need it. So rather than regular, shallow watering, it’s best to water infrequently but deeply. This will also encourage plants to develop stronger root systems and become more drought tolerant. Also opt for watering methods that go directly to the roots such as drip irrigation, hand watering or olla pots.

Water is a scarce resource in Perth – it’s important to do all we can to conserve water and water effectively. For tips on watering effectively and creating cooler microclimates, read our guide How to Help Your Plants Through a Heat Wave. 

Recommended Products

Olla Pots

Ollas are a traditional watering method. You bury these terracotta pots in the ground and fill them with water. They’ll slowly, passively water surrounding plants at the root zone. Working on osmosis, the olla will only release as much water as needed.

6. Grow What Thrives at Your Place

Choose plants that can cope with sandier soils, dryer conditions and hotter summers. That way you won’t have to work as hard for your garden to thrive. 

Native WA plants are an obvious pick. Also look at plants from the Mediterranean regions such as rosemary, thyme, lavender, olives, citrus etc. You’ll often find plants native to South Africa, California and Chile tend to do well in the Perth climate too.

Browse our heirloom seed library or read up on our Perth Planting Guides for inspiration.

Don’t Give Up!

If you’ve been discouraged by your sandy soils, you’re not alone. Perth soils are some of the most difficult to grow in. Add on our hot, dry summers and it’s enough to make anyone discouraged.

Start taking steps like building up organic matter, adding clay and biochar and laying down some mulch and you’ll begin to see a difference. Getting plants into your soil can also help bring it to life – so don’t leave your sandy patch bare. Keep at it, and you’ll have healthy, living soil over time. It will get better!

If you have questions about gardening in sandy soil or any of our products, don’t hesitate to reach out or pop by the store to have a chat with us.