Sharp sand
London,
United Kingdom 
I bought a bag of sharp sand from the garden centre section of B&Q becuase it's one way of deterring squirrels from digging up your bulbs as soon as you've planted them. I lifted some turf. planted the crocus bulbs, sprinkled over some sharp sand, replaced the turf and sprinkled more sharp sand (and grated some soap for good measure - apparently squirrels hate soap!) Now i'm worried that I shouldn't have put the sharp sand in direct contact with the bulbs (or are they korms? Sorry, relatively new to this) in case it contains salt or other chemicals despite having bought it in the garden section... Any advice very gratefully received.
27 Oct, 2009
Answers
Hi Charlie the sand will not harm your bulbs. I sit bulbs on 6mm grit if they are fussy about getting their bottom wet.
27 Oct, 2009
Dear Bulbaholic and Moon grower - that's very reassuring, not to mention kind. Thank you!
Charlie
27 Oct, 2009
As long as you bought it in the garden section, it should be fine - washed builders sand is fine too, but ordinary builders sand isn't so good for plants.
27 Oct, 2009
lets hope the soap doesnt foam up through the grass :o)
i assume you ony put a small amount in. the worms wont like it so dont be surprised if they come up to the surface.
27 Oct, 2009
I just grated the soap over the grass after I'd put the turf back and spread the sand over the join... Hope that's ok. I'm just desperate to stop the squirrels digging them all up. I'm more worried about the bulbs in the borders now...
Thank you for all the help!
27 Oct, 2009
Don't worry it will be fine. The next time it rains you may well have bubbles on the grass and the worms will doubtless avoid that area for a while. I've never heard of soap flakes to deter squirrels but that does not mean it doesn't work.
The bulbs in your borders should survive without problems even if you didn't give them a soapy bath :-)
We, thankfully, only have red squirrels and have never found then digging up bulbs.
I do remember rescuing a grey squirrel from a cat nearly 40 years ago in London - little bugger bit me!
27 Oct, 2009
They're a real pain! We have a beautiful walnut tree overhanging our garden and we watch the grey squirrels taking off the un-ripe nuts one by one, finding they're not ripe, spitting it out and moving on to the next. Indigenous red squirrels would know when the walnuts were ripe and we could all have a fair crack at them! A neighbour said that until about 8 or 10 years ago he could collect buckets of walnuts each year, and he lives next door but 1! Now there are virtually none come August. We are thinking of setting traps for the squirrels, but apparently they're territorial and a new group would take over... We are over-run. Wish the numerous urban foxes would control them!
28 Oct, 2009
I bet, they really are vermin (the grey squirrels I mean).
28 Oct, 2009
Have a good night's sleep - all will be well! Trust me! LOL
28 Oct, 2009
Sleep... I've only been up a couple of hours and the sun is finally shining YIPPY!
28 Oct, 2009
I've been up a couple of hours as well, but I haven't been outside yet. The sky is a clear azure blue, so it looks quite cold.
28 Oct, 2009
Just popped in from the garden, with the sun out it feels hot, minute it goes behind a cloud you realise it really is only 10C but having been stuck indoors for days due to the weather I'm just happy to be out. It is too wet to do anything so we will go for a walk instead.
28 Oct, 2009
Nothing like a good walk MG! Get's the heart going, which can only be good for you!
28 Oct, 2009
Its too late to worry now, Charlie, but I don't think that you will have any problems. The sand is unlikely to contain salt but any small amount will soon be disapated into the soil. I use builders sharp sand and don't worry about it.
27 Oct, 2009