Need Help in Texas!

[ksacres]

DH and I just made an offer on a house. The house sits on an old lake bed, so there is a lot of silty deep sand. The soil is like fine sandy loam or loamy sand. I was planning to plant some fruit trees after we move. Now someone has told me that if I want fruit, I should plan to dig out and replace with topsoil at least one dump truck load per tree.

This seems a little excessive to me. But I would like some input from you all. Is it really going to be so impossible to grow any fruit trees? Should I run away from this house now??


I have three horses and a bunch of goats, so I have access to a ready supply of organic material (manure, used bedding/waste hay, etc).

 

[catjac1975]

Sounds excessive to me too. I don't know anything about the soil that you are describing. I would make a deep, wide, hole, put in a lot of manure. you should be able to get it for free, add a bale of peat moss and some good soil. Also mix back in some of the local soil and what ever amendments that are suggested locally. The old adage is dig a twenty dollar hole for a ten dollar tree.

 

[ksacres]

Everything I have read suggests that apple trees in particular love well drained (read: sandy) soils. Yes, definitely was already planning to dig large holes for small trees and amend amend amend.

But an entire load?? Topsoil here is at a MINIMUM $300 per load. That means maybe I could have ONE tree!

 

[thistlebloom]

I would suggest dwarf to semi dwarf trees grown in raised beds. It will be much easier to amend the soil that way.

If you built the beds now and amended heavily you could plant bare root in the spring.

 

[baymule]

Who told you this and what is their level of expertise? Or is it that this person owns a dirt business? Sand soil generally does not hold moisture real well, so humus and compost would be in order. But a dump truck load? I never heard of this, get the trees, dig a hole, compost it well and plant the tree.

Look around closely and see what is already growing there. Does it have good grass for your horses? Don't get scared away by someone else's opinion when they might not know what they are talking about.

 

[Smart Red]

Another factor in adding too much compost in tree planting holes is that the roots may want to stay inside the rich compost and won't move out into the surrounding soil for the root support they need. It is possible to have 'root bound' trees where the roots just circle within the compost until they choke themselves.

 

[bj taylor]

dig the hole twice as wide as the root ball but no deeper than the root ball. amend it nicely with composted organic matter. add some lava sand & some green sand if you can find it. here in Texas, you need to avoid peat moss like the plague. it's great if you get decent rains, but in a droughty area like here, it's a death sentence for your plants. once it really dries out - it is nearly impossible to re-wet, no matter how much water you pour on it.

best of luck with your new place.

 

[Ridgerunner]

If you are going to grow fruit trees in that sandy loam, make sure you have good access to water. I think youll need to do a lot of irrigating to grow fruit trees in that stuff.

 

[MontyJ]

The best approach would be to learn about your particular soil. You are in Bexar County. I know the area pretty well. I grew up in Zapata, down river from Laredo and also lived in Kingsville and Rockport/Fulton. San Antonio is like an oasis in the desert, very nice!

Anyway, here (link) is a soil survey of Bexar county. I don't have time this morning to study it, but a quick glance through the Bexar Series shows a clay loam which should be well draining but will hold water better than expected. The soil does vary some through the county from S/W to N/E. The silt layer in the old lake bed should be comprised of the same soil that surrounded the lake, but on a finer scale.

Contact the people at this site (link). That is the A&M extension service for Bexar county. They should be able to get you going in the right direction better than anyone. For a list of varieties that should do well for you click here.

Good luck with the new home and fruit trees!

 

[897tgigvib]

You've gotten all good advice here. Yes, what is the source of your info's agenda? It does sound excessive.

Dwarf trees will be easier.

If you get a good professional set of soil tests you'll know much more.

Do remember, sand is one of the ingredients of concrete. Raised beds sound like the best plan. So far.