Your Soil Type

The key item in any garden is the soil it’s the place to start. If your garden is windy, shady or has other problems the solutions will normally start with the soil if you can create the ideal soil conditions for the plants you wish to grow then they should get of to a flying start.

The bulk of soil is made up of a mixture of organic matter, rock and mineral particles. However, it's the air, water and nutrients in the ground that the growing plant really relies on. These are taken up by the roots and then used by the plant to form flowers and leaves. The relative proportions of all these, along with pH, determine soil type.

A Simple Soil Test

The previous section introduced soil and what is important in making a good soil. In this section we look at how to test the soil so you know what the composition is and then on the next few pages we will discuss the different soil types and then look at what you can do to improve it. 

The easiest way to find out what the composition of your garden soil is by carrying out a couple of simple tests. The first is by looking at the soiland the second is by sampling the soil and putting it in an old coffee jar (or similar type jar) and just adding water. 

This is What You Do and let's assume that your garden soil looks the same in all parts of the garden, and the soil seems to be roughly the same sort of texture to the full depth of a garden spade. 


Method 1

1. Water an area of soil with a watering can, watch the water and see how long it takes to drain away. 
• Surface water disappears quickly on sandy or gravelly soils but remains on the surface for longer on clay soils.
2. Next take a handful of the wet soil and give it a squeeze.
• Clay: feels slimy and sticky and when you release the pressure the lump stays in shape.
• Sandy or gravelly: gritty and the clump crumbles apart easily.
• Loam and silt: smooth and retain their shape for longer than sandy soils but not as rigidly as clay.
• Peat:  feel spongy.

Method 2

Take a couple of spoonfuls; break it up as much as you can, then place it in the jar - just under half a jar full is ideal. Fill the jar with water to within about half an inch (1cm) of the top and give it a really good shake (Make sure that the lid is on!). Keep shaking until all of the soil has broken up and there are no lumps and you just have a murky-looking liquid. Leave the jar somewhere to let the contents settle; this will take a few hours.


The soil will settle into its component parts:

• Clay: The water is cloudy with a thin layer of soil on the bottom of the jar. The clay particles are the smallest of the soil particles and therefore take a long time to settle.
• Sandy or gravelly: The sand particles are large and sink quickly forming a layer on the bottom of the jar, the water is fairly clear.
• Peaty soil: There are lots of bits floating on top of the water and the water is a bit cloudy. There is a small amount of sediment at the bottom of the jar.
• Chalky: There is a white gritty sediment at the bottom of the jar and the water is greyish in colour.
• Silt: The water is cloudy with a thin layer of sediment on the bottom of the jar. It can be distinguished from the clay in that the sediment settles quicker.
• Loam: Fairly clear water with a layered sediment on the bottom of the jar with the finest particles on the top.

The next page looks at the types of soil there are and from that I hope you can work out what type of soil you have got.