Obviously, there is a great deal of difference between dark, crumbly, soft earth and packed down light-colored dirt. Unless they farm or garden, however, most people probably know little about the different types of soil. A classification system makes thinking about soil easier. Some scientists have grouped soils into five main types, and consider all soils to be some combination of these types. That includes the most fertile combination, loam, which consists of 40 percent silt, 40 percent sand and 20 percent clay. Does this Spark an idea?
Silty Soil
Silty soil is composed of minerals---mostly quartz and feldspar---and fine particles of organic matter. When dry, it looks like dark sand, but it has more nutrients than sandy soil. Silty soil is among the most fertile of soils. It has a weak soil structure that makes it easy to work with when moist. Although it holds moisture well, it still has good drainage. Silty soil particle size, which ranges from 0.06 millimeters to 0.002 millimeters, is finer than that of sandy soils and larger than those found in clay soils.
Sandy Soil
Sandy soils range from very large, coarse particles of 2 millimeters down to 0.06 millimeters, which gives it a coarse-grained texture. It contains less than 10 percent clay and has small particles of the minerals silica and quartz. Sandy soils are light and dry and heat up quickly. They do not retain moisture, which makes the soil easy to work. The color of sandy soils varies according to humus content. Although sandy soils often do not have much in the way of nutrients, some plants do well in it, including grapes, trumpet vine and blueberries.
Clay Soils
Clay is a very fine-textured, smooth soil consisting of highly compacted particles less than 0.002 millimeters in size, which makes movement of water or nutrients through clay soil difficult. Clay soils contain the minerals aluminum hydrous-oxide, iron, mica and silicates. Clay soil remains wet even when well-drained, which means you cannot work it as early in the spring as you can sandy soils. But clay soils contain more nutrients. It's a good soil during periods of drought and during the summer months, because it retains moisture. Roses, daylilies and peonies all do well in clay soils.
Peat Soil
Peat soil is the product of decaying vegetation. It is more than 20 percent humus, acidic and does not contain lime. Generally found in marshlands, peat is the result of thousands of years of continually growing and decomposing vegetation. Much of the world's wetlands are peat soil. Some plants that grow well in acidic peat soil include azaleas and rhododendrons. Gardeners often mix peat with other soils for home gardens or in container plants.
Chalky Soil
Calcareous or chalky soils frequently overlie limestone and often lack humus. They are light, shallow and very alkaline, with a fine particle size that makes them stick together when wet. Although generally fertile, their high alkalinity means that many nutrients are not available to plants. Chalky soils dry out quickly, so they don't hold moisture during summer. You must add a lot of organic matter to chalky soils every year to grow plants in them. Bluebells, however, grow well in calcareous soil.
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