Your plants will only grow as well as the soil they are growing in so let’s talk about how you can get to know your soil and the best way to improve it!

The foundation of your soil is the texture, which is defined by the ratio of sand, silt, and clay particles within your soil. Each of these particles are different sizes and shapes so they respond a bit differently to water and nutrients. Sand particles are large and round, the space between several of these particles is large so water and nutrients drain easily. Silt is relatively smaller (think of a Frisbee silt particle compared to a beach ball sized sand particle), the smaller pore size can retain water and nutrients better than sand but also releases them to the plant roots. Clay is the smallest particle (dime size by comparison) and each particle is made up of several plates. So not only do they hold water between the tiny spaces between particles, but they absorb water and nutrients in between the layers of each particle, which becomes difficult for plants to access. 

You will almost always find a mix of these three components within your garden. An ideal balance of sand, silt, and clay, otherwise known as loamy soil, is the dream but there are ways that we can work with soil that falls into the sandier or more clay ranges!

You can figure out which soil type is present in your garden by hand texturing. Follow the steps and pictures below or use this link to follow a step by step process for hand texturing!

5. You can determine the secondary particle by feeling the texture between your fingers.

Sand: Gritty texture

Silt: Silky texture

Clay: Finger print remains in soil ball after pressing your finger into it.

So, if your ribbon is 1.5” long with a gritty texture than it is predominately silt soil with some sand. If it is a 2.5” ribbon and has a silky texture than it is predominately clay soil with silt.

If your soil texture falls into the sand category than water will be able to work through the soil quickly, but it will also drain quickly past your plants root depth. So it is recommended to irrigate for shorter intervals more frequently. For the other extreme of a clay soil that the water has a difficult time penetrating and will slowly drain past the root depth, it is recommended to do a longer watering interval less frequently. Sandy soil may require 3 short watering’s a week in the heat of summer while clay soil may require 1 long watering per week. It is helpful to texture your soil, but I also recommend feeling the soil everyday to get a feel for how quickly it dries out. Dry soil won’t stick to your hand, and will look lighter colored appearance. Moist soil will easily stick to your hand and can’t be brushed off and will look darker. Cheap water sensors often don’t work well in home gardens but the look and feel of it won’t fail you!

If you want to improve the texture of your soil, the best thing you can do is add compost or other soil amendments. These soil amendments will not only improve drainage in clay soil and water retention in sandy soil but it will add food for beneficial microorganisms which break organic materials down into nutrients that will taken up by plants to support growth! However, be careful when adding compost. Certain types can be damaging to your soil health and adding too much of a good thing can also be bad. It is usually best to select types that have aged for longer than 6 months. In the spring till in a 1-2” layer in the spring for your annual beds and do a top dressing of 1-2” compost on your perennial beds. In the fall, do a top dressing on all of your garden beds of compost or a finely shredded mulch layer. Top dressing in the fall will retain moisture, insulate perennial roots from the cold, and prevent soil erosion from wind and rain. This top dressing will break down throughout the winter from the sun, microorganisms, rain and snow and can be tilled in the spring with your extra addition of compost.

It is important to understand your soil texture to select plants that will work in your garden. If a plant is described as being drought tolerant or prefers well draining soil then it is most likely ideal for sandy or silty soil. If a plant prefers moist conditions than it is best planted in silty or clay soil. We can continually work towards an improved soil structure for a balance of water retention and drainage with small yearly additions of compost! Keep checking back to our blog for more information on how to improve your soil structure, and health for strong, happy plants!

If you have questions about soil texturing, comment below or message us @haldenvegetable on Instagram!