Soil type is one of the most important parts of gardening, especially if you love your plants, vegetables and blooming floral displays. Soil make-up can vary drastically from one area to another, and this can make a real difference to what you decide to grow.
If you’re a novice gardener or are trying to understand the main differences between different types of soil, then there are some basic types which you can learn about.
The first kind of soil we’re talking about here is clay soil. Clay soils are called so because they are heavy in clay content, which makes them heavy, sticky and often wetter than other soils. Poor draining soils are often found to contain heavy clay content, meaning they become water-sodden much more easily. Loosening up clay soil can be achieved by the addition of sand, otherwise it can be hard to work. Well drained clay soil will make vegetation grow superbly due to the remarkable levels of plant nutrients in clay compounds.
Sand heavy soils are often much thinner and grittier than clay soils, draining well and offering less nutrients for plants The addition of organic matter to sandy soil will enable it to retain moisture and plant nutrients making it a great for growing and easy to work.
Avoiding chalky soil is sound advice for gardeners because these soils make for poor quality. Soil with a high alkaline chalk content usually contains many stones that often lead to dry soil and it also doesn’t let plants get the nutrients they need.
These are just some of the types of soil that one can encounter with others being peaty and silty soils. Almost all soil can be utilised by skilful gardeners, but chalky soil can require so many additional nutrients and organic matter that it makes the job seem worthless.