what to do with excess sand?

I've recently removed a rotten shed, that was on a base of patio slabs on 60mm depth of pure sand. It was a silly idea for a base, for a poorly placed building - literally in the middle of the garden. The building sagged as the sand settled, and it rotted out and needed to be moved.

I now have a lot of excess sand - about 2 metric tons of it. I have no idea how to repurpose it.

It doesn't feel sharp, in fact, it feels quite fine and smooth, but I cannot be sure about its structure. Judging by the other decisions the previous owners of the property made, it will be budget building sand. All I can tell you is that it's grey, and ants were living in it.

The soil here leans to being a clay in composition and compacted too, so I've read that I shouldn't mix sand into clay soil for fear of creating cement. However, what else can I do? It is a significant amount and to remove it will cost a fair whack. Losing it in compost as aeration in a 'potting mix' will mean I have a supply for roughly the next 50 years, so long as I buy ££££'s of compost.

I do have a lot of woodchips to spread as mulch around the garden, so there is this material to mix it with, and I intend to spread some wild grass and flower seeds, so it could serve as a medium for that, but otherwise, I have no clue what to do.

Any ideas?

I had read that "cement" warning many times, too.  I don't think it's true at all.  I wonder if whoever wrote that ever felt dry, almost solid clay?  THAT is like cement.

I lived in Oregon most my life, and my garden was soil that was almost completely clay.  I had a few inches of clayey topsoil and then it was solid clay as far as one could dig.   Thankfully my cousin had improved parts of it by adding sand, and made it more workable.  It was a big improvement in those parts of the garden.  Over about 12 years, I did more of the same, along with compost.  By the end of my time there, my husband and I had created nearly 10 inches of topsoil and we were so happy with that improvement.

Now I live in the desert SW.  The soil here is sandy clay.  It is definitely not cement.  It is very hard when dry and compacted, but when you wet it and loosen it with a fork, it's the fluffiest, nicest stuff.  Plants grow amazingly in it. It's been so much easier to grow all sorts of plants here than where I grew up, with the soggy, heavy clay soil.

So I'd mix it in, if I were back in our old garden of pottery-quality clay.  :-D

I do not know your climate or water situation but I bring in sand.
I mix in a couple inches of leaf mold or compost with sand to grow my sweet potatoes, ginger, turmeric, artichokes and peanuts. All these need very well draining soil and I get a lot of rain and have heavy soil.
These are also all very light feeders and do not require much but the compost will add some good microbiology and slow release nutrients.

    Howdy Mj Lacey,

    One of the things I appreciate about Mollison is the perspective that he embeds throughout Permaculture design, it's something on the order of, all things are resources and when we see it as pollution or waste or something we have to deal with, all we need to do is shift perspective and then we can see where it fits and harmonizes and creates benefit. To that end, I wish I had two tons of sand, my oh my, what things I could do with that!  
    So, here are some ideas that I hope will help you with your 2 ton conundrum. 1. Put an ad in the local paper and sell some of it for Pounds, or find out who needs sand for their garden and give it to them. Potters also use sand sometimes. 2. Wait a bit, and carry out an experiment to see if it really does turn to concrete and, or see what you need to add to it so it becomes usable and tell us your results on Permies.  Admittedly, I have a jaundiced eye when it comes to Social media, which often isn't social at all, and also "facts"  stated on the internet by a well meaning guy or gal who oftentimes is simply repeating what they read, rather than giving results about what they have actually done. This can stop our growth and experimentation and exploration because we take the truth of their story for granted when it might be different for us. 3. The solution to pollution is dilution. I don't know if you have a smallholding or a cottage or how big you lawn is, however you could spread it around your lawn and landscape everywhere thereby diluting it. You could have a party, a "help spread my sand around party". 4. Do you need a patio? Does a friend? You can also use it to make real concrete  for something. I like what everyone else said too. Anyway, these are some ideas. I hope they are a help. Good luck.

     Thomas Agresti

     Mitama farm

 

I don't have any experience with them yet, but maybe you could look into a sand filtration system?

I was looking through the PEP badge bits and thought that one was interesting, and it looks like you could scale it upwards or use different variations to better fit your usage.

Kim Goodwin wrote:I had read that "cement" warning many times, too.  I don't think it's true at all.  I wonder if whoever wrote that ever felt dry, almost solid clay?  THAT is like cement.

I lived in Oregon most my life, and my garden was soil that was almost completely clay.  I had a few inches of clayey topsoil and then it was solid clay as far as one could dig.   Thankfully my cousin had improved parts of it by adding sand, and made it more workable.  It was a big improvement in those parts of the garden.  Over about 12 years, I did more of the same, along with compost.  By the end of my time there, my husband and I had created nearly 10 inches of topsoil and we were so happy with that improvement.

Now I live in the desert SW.  The soil here is sandy clay.  It is definitely not cement.  It is very hard when dry and compacted, but when you wet it and loosen it with a fork, it's the fluffiest, nicest stuff.  Plants grow amazingly in it. It's been so much easier to grow all sorts of plants here than where I grew up, with the soggy, heavy clay soil.

So I'd mix it in, if I were back in our old garden of pottery-quality clay.  :-D

Thank you - that's a fair point. I'm in the UK but generally, I think we're a good climate for Oregon in the most part.

Thomas Agresti wrote:

    Howdy Mj Lacey,

    One of the things I appreciate about Mollison is the perspective that he embeds throughout Permaculture design, it's something on the order of, all things are resources and when we see it as pollution or waste or something we have to deal with, all we need to do is shift perspective and then we can see where it fits and harmonizes and creates benefit. To that end, I wish I had two tons of sand, my oh my, what things I could do with that!  
    So, here are some ideas that I hope will help you with your 2 ton conundrum. 1. Put an ad in the local paper and sell some of it for Pounds, or find out who needs sand for their garden and give it to them. Potters also use sand sometimes. 2. Wait a bit, and carry out an experiment to see if it really does turn to concrete and, or see what you need to add to it so it becomes usable and tell us your results on Permies.  Admittedly, I have a jaundiced eye when it comes to Social media, which often isn't social at all, and also "facts"  stated on the internet by a well meaning guy or gal who oftentimes is simply repeating what they read, rather than giving results about what they have actually done. This can stop our growth and experimentation and exploration because we take the truth of their story for granted when it might be different for us. 3. The solution to pollution is dilution. I don't know if you have a smallholding or a cottage or how big you lawn is, however you could spread it around your lawn and landscape everywhere thereby diluting it. You could have a party, a "help spread my sand around party". 4. Do you need a patio? Does a friend? You can also use it to make real concrete  for something. I like what everyone else said too. Anyway, these are some ideas. I hope they are a help. Good luck.

     Thomas Agresti

     Mitama farm

 

Thank you Thomas. Thats a great perspective, and ultimately where I am coming from. I want to put it to use, and this is helpful.

I'm with you on social. Everyone degrading their capacity to do hard things and focus, sapping their attention scrolling through feeds. Seems like quite a waste of time to me.

Ralph Sluder wrote:I do not know your climate or water situation but I bring in sand.
I mix in a couple inches of leaf mold or compost with sand to grow my sweet potatoes, ginger, turmeric, artichokes and peanuts. All these need very well draining soil and I get a lot of rain and have heavy soil.
These are also all very light feeders and do not require much but the compost will add some good microbiology and slow release nutrients.

Great stuff, thank you. 50,000 carrots here we come...

I use sand for paths, works great.

Perhaps a natural pool system, via David Pagan Butler methods?

Mj Lacey wrote:

Ralph Sluder wrote:I do not know your climate or water situation but I bring in sand.
I mix in a couple inches of leaf mold or compost with sand to grow my sweet potatoes, ginger, turmeric, artichokes and peanuts. All these need very well draining soil and I get a lot of rain and have heavy soil.
These are also all very light feeders and do not require much but the compost will add some good microbiology and slow release nutrients.

Great stuff, thank you. 50,000 carrots here we come...

Depending on how much quid you have to spare on making that carrot bed or garden space, you could also consider purchasing some hessian sandbags.  The sand bags, if an attractive colour and texture, could then be laid out to create uniquely curved raised bed borders, and even layered upward to create small terraced gardens.  

The bags could add three dimensional interest. The raised aspect would help retain heat and create microclimates for growies, and the sand would encourage drainage of the clay-based soil contained within.  Sandbag garden borders could also merge into pathway edge boarders, giving good unity of design throughout the space. With some slab wood, the sandbags could also be used for rudimentary structures, like benches, compost bins, or primitive storage cellars.  The material will eventually biodegrade, however plants, (edible, floral, or grasses) could help stabilize the structures.

I like the giving it away or filter ideas.
If I had it, I would likely create many cutting propagation stations ranging in size from 5 gallons to 250 gallons in size, some with bottom heat, some without.