Just found out that we used to be in the Cherry Creek floodplain before it was walled. That helps explain why we have sandy soil. I didn't even think of that, the Creek has been walled since I've lived here.

OK, I've taken a deep breath. Several, in fact. And realized I've seen just about everything I want to plant this year, growing somewhere in my neighborhood.

If a plant needs well-drained soil, I'm ahead of the game. If it needs moist, well drained I'll need to pay close attention, water and mulch well. Maybe I'll put a few more in containers - I need some height, anyway. Some will do well, some won't. There's nothing really different there from what I was expecting. These first years are going to be about experimenting and learning. CSU should be a reliable guide for the soil.

As Gilda put it, never mind. Excuse the doom and gloom newbie gardener. Well wait a minute, what about over-watering . . .?

Bob

I also have sandy loam though if I dig down more than 6 inches it's more like beach sand. Needless to say it drains quickly. Compost certainly helps a lot.

An inch per week is approximately what I water the vegetable areas. The flower and herb areas get maybe 1/2 to 2/3 as much sometimes less. Once those areas get a bit more established I'll try cutting the water back further. Usually run the irrigation twice per week. I doubt that my sandy soils can be over watered. During the September monsoons I noticed that some of my beds organic matter seemed to disappear and returned to sandy soil. Not sure where the loam part went.

All in all sandy loam is easy to work with.

Thanks for the advice gjcore, real good place to start with mine. Are you using drip irrigation?

I use some drip hoses. From what I can tell by digging around after the drip hoses run is that the water does not spread out but goes directly down. Mostly I have gear driven sprinkler heads.