Soil is the house that holds your garden plants, whether that’s flower beds, a vegetable and herb garden, or an orchard. Overall, loamy soil is the best of the four soil types: clay, sandy, silt, and loamy.
In this blog post, you’ll learn more about soil types and how to get them to be loamy for optimal growth and health:
- Why all of your gardens need loamy soil
- Soil types: soil testing tells you what’s wrong with your dirt
- You can revolutionize your soil type.
Why All of Your Gardens Need Loamy Soil
Loamy soil is ideally the champion for your garden and landscaped areas. It’s a perfect blend of all soil types divided by 20% clay, 40% sand, and 40% silt.
Walking in the woods, you’re stepping on loamy soil. Understanding its benefits will empower you to add soil amendments to create that gardener’s gold for your gardens.
Learn more: How Often Do I Need to Check My Soil?
You want the same dark soil in your garden. While there are variations, there are four main soil types found in the U.S.:
- Clay soil
Clay is a heavy soil that holds in water. It takes time for water to percolate down into the clay soil, and it also poorly drains.
- Sandy soil
Sandy soil drains very well, but nutrients and water don’t hold in the ground. Sandy soil is gritty, easy to handle, and warms up quickly in spring.
- Silt soil
Silt soil holds moisture and is nutrient-dense compared to sandy soil. It’s found in floodplains and makes excellent farmland but erodes quickly.
- Loam soil
Loam soil is ideal because it has the correct ratio of clay, sandy, and silt soils. It holds in moisture, drains well, circulates air, and is a plant nutrient powerhouse. Loamy soil can be obtained by adding soil amendments, such as compost.
How can you tell which soil you have in your garden? You can try this simple test:
- Grab a handful of wet soil—not sopping wet where water is dripping down your arm.
- Next, form that moist soil into a ball.
- Does it hold its shape or fall apart when you poke it? If so, then you have loamy soil. It’ll also be dark brown and smell like the woods.
- If your ball doesn’t crumble with a poke but holds its shape, it’s clay soil.
- If it can’t hold its shape when you open your hand, it’s sandy soil.
There’s a second soil test to try at home; it’s a great science activity you can do with your children or grandchildren.
You’ll need the following materials:
- An empty jar with a tight lid
- A trowel or a small shovel
- About 1 ½ cups of soil
- Water
- Vinegar
- Baking soda
- Containers for testing pH.
Like any good science experiment, you first want to observe your soil samples. Dark soil contains a lot of organic material, which is a good sign.
After your observation, divide your soil sample into thirds. Then, put one of the soil samples in a jar. Fill the jar with water, screw on the lid for a tight seal, and then shake it for two minutes.
Allow the soil to settle next. Then, fill a second container with some soil and add vinegar. If you see the soil bubbling or fizzing, it means your dirt is alkaline. You can also put the sample close to your ear to listen for crackling noises.
Now, you can test to see if the soil is acidic by adding another scoop of soil to a third container. Fill the rest with water, stir, and add a pinch of baking soda. If the soil bubbles or fizzes, you have acidic soil. Double-check with the ear test.
It’s time to return the soil sample in the original jar. If the sample has settled, you’ll notice only water in the top part of the jar.
You may see organic matter floating around in the water. Then, you’ll see clay particles, silt particles, and the bottom layer filled with sand and rock.
Next, it’s time to measure. Here are the steps:
- Draw a chart with clay, silt, and sand on the vertical columns, materials in the left horizontal column, and percentages in the correct horizontal column
- Estimate each amount of material
- Don’t include water in your estimations
- Write your findings in the appropriate columns
- Read your findings and circle your results
- From your experiment and observations, what soil type do you have?
Soil Types: Soil Testing Tells You What’s Wrong with Your Dirt
Before you buy any fertilizer, lime or sulfur, and other soil amendments, you must first confirm what nutrients are missing and the soil’s pH.
Most garden and landscaping plants need the soil’s pH to range between 6.0-7.2. Plants adapted for growing in arid western states need a pH range of 7.0-8.0.
Read more: How to Make Compost for Your Backyard Garden & Lawn
In addition to testing the dirt’s pH, a soil test will also tell you which nutrients, including minerals, are missing from your soil. Nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium (NPK) levels will also be measured. NPK are the primary nutrients needed to grow healthy plants.
When you receive your lab results, they will recommend what levels of NPK are missing from your garden soil. From there, you can use the results to find the best soil amendments and fertilizers, using their correct ratios, to improve the dirt for growing vegetables, flowers, and fruits.
You can send soil samples to your local extension or land grant university. You may need to pay a small fee and take soil samples from different parts of your garden, landscape, and lawn. Each soil testing lab has written instructions that the extension service can email you.
Watch more: Brinly Is Older Than What?
You Can Revolutionize Your Soil Type
You don’t have to settle for clay or sandy soil. Instead, you can add soil amendments, such as conditioners and compost, to move toward loamier soil. If you have acidic soil, add garden lime to balance the pH; for alkaline soil, add garden sulfur.
Brinly’s Ground Engaging and Other Garden Attachments Work with All Soil Types
Every region in the U.S. has a mixture of soil types: clay, silt, sandy, or loam. Your gardening goal should be to get your soil as close to loamy as possible by testing your dirt and making the necessary adjustments.
Brinly’s ground engaging and other garden attachments work with you to achieve loamy soil. Our ground engaging equipment includes
- Sleeve Hitch Box Scraper
- Front-Mount Blade for RYOBI Electric Riding Mower
- Front-Mount Blade for RYOBI Electric ZTRs
- Sleeve Hitch Box Scrapper
- Sleeve Hitch Rear Blade
- Sleeve Hitch Cultivator
- Sleeve Hitch Disc Harrow
- Sleeve Hitch Moldboard Plow
- Universal ATV/UTV One-Point Lift for Brinly Ground Engaging Products.
You can buy your next Brinly lawn care and garden products online. If you have questions about your Brinly lawn and garden product, contact our customer service today by filling out our contact form.
Sources:
Extension.USU.edu, Solutions to Soil Problems II. High pH.
Gardeners.com, Sandy? Loam? What Type of Soil Do You Have?
NESDIS.NOAA.gov, Learn About Soil Types.
WilsonBrosGardens.com, How to Improve Different Types of Soil for Planting.
