How is your soil drainage? Does your soil hold water or drain quickly? Is it compacted and stays wet all the time?
Do you pay attention to your soil? Do you care? You should! It takes a minimum of 250 years to get great soil. If you have a house that is over 200 years old, you might have great soil.
Have you ever seen the infographics that show native plants with 12′ deep roots? The plants that have 12″ deep roots are those that are in native, undisturbed soils.
The bottom line is that very few people in the Miami Valley can say they have great soils. Most of us are dealing with compacted clay soils resulting from construction and development.
Soil consists of sand, silt and clay particles. These three particles combine with organisms and organic material to create a living system for plants (and organisms) to grow.
Believe it or not there are some great soils in our area; however, these soils would be the ones that are undisturbed. Forested and natural areas would be an example.
Soil texture refers to the amount of sand, silt and clay percentages. The best combination for plant growth is a loamy soil. Loamy soils consist of 40% sand, 33.1% silt, and 26.9% clay.
To determine your soil texture, take an empty glass jar and fill it with about a cup of soil from your landscape. Add a drop or two of dish soap. Fill it the rest of the way with water, and shake it up.
The first particles that drop to the bottom within an hour or two are the sand particles. The next particles to filter out are the silt particles and after about 48 hours, clay particles drop.
The percentage of each can be located on a soil triangle to determine your type of soil. You can find a soil triangle with a simple web search. Locate your sand, silt and clay percentages and you can easily determine your soil texture.
Soil structure is the combination of sand, silt and clay combined with organic matter. The addition of organic matter into sandy or clay soils helps to improve soil structure. Good soil structure allows for oxygen for roots and good drainage.
Adding sand to predominantly clay soil will not improve the soil. You can’t add enough sand per volume to change the soil texture.
Think about it this way. Sand, silt and clay is the size of a beach ball, softball and dime respectively. Picture a room full of beach balls and softballs mixed up; add dimes to the room?
The dimes fill in all the open spaces, creating a compacted soil situation. Don’t add sand to your soil
The best thing you can do to improve your soil is to add organic matter such as compost, peat moss, etc.
Know your soil for the best plant growth.
Pamela Corle-Bennett is the state master gardener volunteer coordinator and horticulture educator for Ohio State University Extension. Contact her by email at bennett.27@osu.edu.
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