Disposing of Sandbox Sand

Fall means the end of long summer days, kids going back to school and cleaning up your backyard from a season's worth of entertainment. If you have small children chances are you may have a sandbox and a variety of sand sculpting toys. Using sand season after season is unsanitary and it's best to get rid of sand as part of your regular 'getting ready for fall' maintenance.

The best way to simply get rid of your sand is obviously have it hauled away with your regular trash. If you live in a community where trash collectors have to manually dump cans you may be shocked to find out there's a limit to the weight of each bag of trash they'll collect. Bags weighing more then 45lbs. will often be left behind. If this is the case in your neighborhood you have two options - bag the sand in smaller increments or haul it to the sanitation department yourself.

Getting rid of the sand is only one option but there are other more creative and useful ways to remove the sand from your sandbox and put it to good use. If you're considering bringing some plants inside for the upcoming fall and winter months you can use the sand in the bottom of pots to help with water absorption. Or store it so you'll have it available the next time you're re-potting your indoor foliage. You can also make your own garden compost by mixing equal parts of sand, loamy garden soil and peat moss.

Sand can help level out any drainage problems you may have in your yard or you can use it for landscaping to fill in holes or create small hills. You can store sand for the following spring season and use sand, mixed with garden soil, to start seedlings indoors. Garden fruits like watermelon and peaches grow especially well in a soil with a high sand content. For those into interior decorating or people just looking for a change you can add sand to paint and give your walls or ceiling a textured finish.

There are many uses for your old sand, from gardening to interior design. Whether you decide to get rid of your sand or put it to good use, the important thing to remember is that at the end of summer all sandbox sand should be cleaned out. You'll also want to remember to clean all of your sand toys before storing them away for next season's use.