Guides · Soil
What to plant in sandy soil
How to know you have it: It runs through your fingers dry, drains within minutes of rain, and warms up two weeks earlier than your neighbour's clay.
Sandy ground has the opposite problem to clay: water and nutrients both leave faster than roots can use them. In July the top 20 cm can be bone dry while the plant is still trying to establish.
The fix is organic matter and mulch, in that order, repeated. Compost worked into the planting area holds water like a sponge; a mulch on top stops the sun taking it back. New planting needs a deep soak once a week for its first two summers rather than a daily sprinkle, which only wets the surface and teaches roots to stay shallow.
The reward is that everything drought-adapted is easy here, and easy without irrigation once established: lavender, rosemary, santolina, thyme, cistus, Stipa. This is the soil where a dry garden is not a compromise but the obvious answer.
The four rules
- 01Two barrowloads of compost per square metre at planting, then mulch every year.
- 02Water deep and rarely for two summers, then stop.
- 03Autumn planting beats spring: winter rain establishes roots before the first drought.
- 04Skip anything sold as needing 'moist, rich soil' unless you intend to irrigate it forever.
What we plant in sandy soil
These are the species our own plant database will draw from for a site on sandy soil — 2 trees, 1 hedge, 5 shrubs, 2 grasses, 4 perennials, 2 edibles. Prices are French retail nursery prices per plant, 2026, at the pot size given.
| Species | Type | Height | Spacing | Price | Why it belongs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OliveOlea europaea · Olivier | tree | 5,00 m | 5,00 m | 240 € | Needs sharp drainage; on clay it is planted on a raised gravel mound, never in a sump. |
| Snowy mespilusAmelanchier lamarckii · Amélanchier | tree | 5,00 m | 4,00 m | 145 € | Three seasons out of one small tree: white blossom, edible fruit, red autumn. |
| SilverberryElaeagnus × ebbingei · Chalef | hedge | 2,50 m | 0,60 m | 15 € | Evergreen, salt- and wind-proof: the hedge for an exposed or coastal boundary. |
| Cotton lavenderSantolina chamaecyparissus · Santoline | shrub | 0,50 m | 0,50 m | 8 € | Silver mounds that hold their shape all winter and ask for nothing. |
| Japanese hollyIlex crenata 'Dark Green' · Houx crénelé | shrub | 0,60 m | 0,50 m | 14 € | Used instead of box: same clipped form, and box moth does not touch it. |
| LavenderLavandula × intermedia 'Grosso' · Lavandin | shrub | 0,80 m | 0,60 m | 9 € | Dies of wet feet, not of cold. On clay it goes on a 20 cm gravel ridge. |
| Rock roseCistus × purpureus · Ciste | shrub | 1,20 m | 1,00 m | 12 € | Flowers for six weeks on poor ground and resents being fed. |
| RosemarySalvia rosmarinus · Romarin | shrub | 1,20 m | 0,80 m | 11 € | Evergreen structure and a kitchen crop from the same plant. |
| Autumn moor grassSesleria autumnalis · Seslérie d'automne | grass | 0,50 m | 0,40 m | 7 € | Plant in blocks as a low matrix: it closes the ground and stops weeding. |
| Golden oatsStipa gigantea · Avoine géante | grass | 1,80 m | 1,00 m | 13 € | Holds its structure through winter and catches low western light. |
| Mediterranean spurgeEuphorbia characias subsp. wulfenii · Euphorbe des garrigues | perennial | 1,10 m | 0,80 m | 10 € | Architectural all winter. Wear gloves: the sap burns skin in sunlight. |
| ThymeThymus vulgaris · Thym | perennial | 0,30 m | 0,30 m | 5 € | Plant it where you walk past it, at the terrace edge and along the path. |
| Wood sageSalvia nemorosa 'Caradonna' · Sauge des bois | perennial | 0,60 m | 0,40 m | 7 € | Flowers twice if you cut it back hard after the first flush. |
| YarrowAchillea 'Terracotta' · Achillée | perennial | 0,70 m | 0,50 m | 7 € | Flat heads that read well against grasses, and it does not need staking on poor soil. |
| Autumn raspberryRubus idaeus 'Zeva' · Framboisier remontant | edible | 1,60 m | 0,50 m | 7 € | An autumn variety is cut to the ground each February: no canes to tie in. |
| StrawberryFragaria × ananassa 'Mara des Bois' · Fraisier | edible | 0,25 m | 0,35 m | 4 € | Replace the plants every third year: yield halves after that. |
What we would not plant here
Each of these is a good plant on the ground it was bred for, and a mistake on yours. This is the list our own palette leaves out for a site on sandy soil.
- 01Field maple (Acer campestre) — wants clay, loam or chalk: it dries out faster than it can root, and asks for watering it should not need.
- 02Sweet cherry (Prunus avium) — wants loam, clay or chalk: it dries out faster than it can root, and asks for watering it should not need.
- 03Panicled hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata 'Limelight') — wants clay or loam: it dries out faster than it can root, and asks for watering it should not need.
- 04Laurustinus (Viburnum tinus) — wants clay, loam or chalk: it dries out faster than it can root, and asks for watering it should not need.
- 05Purple moor grass (Molinia caerulea 'Transparent') — wants clay or loam: it dries out faster than it can root, and asks for watering it should not need.
- 06Japanese forest grass (Hakonechloa macra) — wants loam or clay: it dries out faster than it can root, and asks for watering it should not need.
- 07Hardy geranium (Geranium × oxonianum 'Claridge Druce') — wants clay, loam or chalk: it dries out faster than it can root, and asks for watering it should not need.
- 08Lenten rose (Helleborus × hybridus) — wants clay, loam or chalk: it dries out faster than it can root, and asks for watering it should not need.
- 09Soft shield fern (Polystichum setiferum) — wants clay or loam: it dries out faster than it can root, and asks for watering it should not need.
- 10Hornbeam (Carpinus betulus) — wants clay, loam or chalk: it dries out faster than it can root, and asks for watering it should not need.
- 11Blackcurrant (Ribes nigrum 'Andega') — wants clay or loam: it dries out faster than it can root, and asks for watering it should not need.
- 12Garden mint (Mentha spicata) — wants clay or loam: it dries out faster than it can root, and asks for watering it should not need.
Soil is one of three filters. Hardiness decides whether a plant survives your winter, exposure decides whether it flowers, and only then does soil matter. A plant list that ignores any of the three is decoration.