Would decomposed granite just get covered by the sand and be a waste? well yes and no - the sand tends to get grinded into the decomposed granite when it is minimal. But when there is a huge sweep of sand that flows over the DG it can be a kind of a waste. DG is expensive in northern calif so I often weigh the cost vs. the function and value. Would gravel be a good choice as the sand would sink through it or would it just get buried? Again, it depends on how much sand flows across the area. On one project where we are right on the beach , the sand sometimes washes up threw the gravel. It is the challenge of beach side living. On the other beach side project we have used gravel effectively but it needs to be top dressed after a year or a big winter storm. Would organic mulch be better as it would eventually amend my "soil" and I could just add layers to the top if it got too muddled with the beach sand after a storm? If so, what kind of mulch? - I'd go with a bark mulch. it will break down over time and add nutient value to the sandy soil. I'm a big fan of the organic mulch that comes from the local resource recovery center. Not only is it free it is a nice dark rich color vs. the orangey color of the fresh redwood and fir bark mix. You might try calling around to see if you have such a resource. We used 50 yards of the stuff just last week on a newly planted seaside job. enclosed is a photo of the nice chocolate color and texture of the mulch. I

Depending on which grass covering it with newspaper, or cardboard, is the easiest means of creating a new planting bed, but some invasive grasses, Quack Grass, Bermuda grass, St. Augustine grass, should be totally, roots and all, removed with good barriers placed between the grass and the planting bed to keep new growth out. Once the new planting bed is created, or maybe before, a good, reliable soil test can be of help since most plants do grow best with a soil pH of 6.2 to 6.8 and a balanced level of nutrients as well as a soil well endowed with organic matter that is evenly moist but well drained. Your North Carolina State University Cooperative Extension Service offers a good, reliable soil test. These simple soil tests might also be of some benefit. 1) Structure. From that soil sample put enough of the rest to make a 4 inch level in a clear 1 quart jar, with a tight fitting lid. Fill that jar with water and replace the lid, tightly. Shake the jar vigorously and then let it stand for 24 hours. Your soil will settle out according to soil particle size and weight. A good loam will have about 1-3/4 inch (about 45%) of sand on the bottom. about 1 inch (about 25%) of silt next, about 1 inch (25%) of clay above that, and about 1/4 inch (about 5%) of organic matter on the top. 2) Drainage. Dig a hole 1 foot square and 1 foot deep and fill that with water. After that water drains away refill the hole with more water and time how long it takes that to drain away. Anything less than 2 hours and your soil drains� too quickly and needs more organic matter to slow that drainage down. Anything over 6 hours and the soil drains too slowly and needs lots of organic matter to speed it up. 3) Tilth. Take a handful of your slightly damp soil and squeeze it tightly. When the pressure is released the soil should hold together in that clump, but when poked with a finger that clump should fall apart. 4) Smell. What does your soil smell like? A pleasant, rich earthy odor? Putrid, offensive, repugnant odor? The more organic matter in your soil the more active the soil bacteria will be and the nicer your soil will smell. 5) Life. How many earthworms per shovel full were there? 5 or more indicates a pretty healthy soil. Fewer than 5, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, indicates a soil that is not healthy. Here is a link that might be useful: NCSU CES

Yes, TX is right . It's NewMexico. I was staying at an old "community" of transformed hippies " in Cerillos hills , not far from Madrid , pronounced MAD-drid. We stopped at thew old church in Golden (not far) and walked it in the rain and found turquoise in the gravel of the parking lot. These picks are of a ridge line of sandstone above the lava flows at Mal Pais, way west of Albuquerque. South west of Grant NM. The first one is a grass clump in a outcropping above a built up travertine build up above a hot spring in the Jimez Mountains. I am slowly going through 995 photos. (Gardening is only one of several obsessions). Once I get them CULLED a bit I will put my flicker account album out there. Until then , you might see a few grass photos here and there.. We went west to Quemado and then to the Zuni reservation South of Gallup , the Jimez mountains, and then up north to Hoveweep and the Needles in Canyonland National Park in Utah. It rained a lot for a desert. It was greener than central Texas. West Texas was greener too. Central Tx was cracked and burnt up when I left and FLOODING when I drove back in. The spring should be really full of blooms next spring out west. One of my favorite writers about the Desert is Craig Childs. "The Secret Knowledge of Water" subtitled "there are 2 easy ways to die in the Desert: Thirst and Drowning. Basically it is about the movement of water in the desert. It is very surprising. His book on the Anasazi "House of Rain" is good. He is a very observant walker of the desert. His approach is one of a person who traverses the desert and he writes about a culture who who lives and traverses the desert. His approach is close to the land , not the museum or library. +oM, I just read a book called "Barren Wild and Worthless" written by a field biologist from up north who moved to Las Cruces. It took her a while to see the beauty of the land. Letting go the concept that Green means life and health was a big one. Then there is always looking at a red bog and fall colors being all year long. LOL Believe it or not, I DESATURATED the colors in my editing process Or GREEN dirt, just to twist your brain. My dirt , here in Central Texas glimmers silver under a full moon. The red of the foothills to the Jimez Mountains after a rain is an eye opener.

"the sand I use is .4-1.4mm" ---if you really want to use this, sift the powder out. What sand generally does is ultimately sink to the bottom of the pot. So, instead of a fast-draining mix, you have a bottom-clogged mix. This means your pot space will effectively shrink in size, raising what is known as the perched water table. The fine particles that will accumulate at the bottom of your pot will stay wet longer than the rest of the pot and that can create problems for your plants. The rest of your ingredients sound fine. They will all grow algae if they stay wet too long or if it is humid. Mold, no. Yes, I do use only pumice for most my succulents. I have a few that grow on soil and pumice but those are special (mesembs). Using soil-free substrate means you have to fertilize using what is generally known as a complete fertilizer with macronutrients added. I do this twice a year. Succulents are generally marginal flora, in that they live in habitats that are poor in both moisture and nutrients. They survive by growing only very slowly, unlike tropical plants which can skyrocket from seedling to reproductive maturity inside several months. If it is readily available, instead of pumice, use zeolite. That is as simple and plain a recommendation as I can give. I do not use any of the other stuff because pumice is good and I've already spent the first three years of my hobby over-thinking every single thing from the kind of pot to use (shape, material, dimension), to winter lighting (economy and utility of LED vs fluorescent lighting), substrate, ventilation, shelving, pump spray option, complete fertilizer vs bloom boster, urea vs ammonia, top-dressing vs not top-dressing, greenhouse vs al fresco, winter storage in garage vs basement vs office vs roof. You name it, I experimented on it. Also, I do not use soil because I have winter to worry about. I have a lot of winter-growing succulents that need water in winter but have to dry out very quickly---tylecodons, othonas, some alpine cacti, sarcocaulons, adromischus and a definitely all of my haworthias and gasterias. Soil particles are too small and retain too much water for too long. These plants have to spend six months indoors every year, it's paramount to me to keep things easy and simple. Depending on what you are growing, the considerations above may not apply to you. As I said, I do use soil, but only on very specific cases of some (but not all) of my mesembs. Another way to keep things simple is just stick with summer-growing succulents. That way, you're on vacation in winter and you have wider latitude for using whatever substrate material is available.