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What kind of soil is this?

esd123esd123 Posts: 21
in Problem solving
Hi everyone, 

I'm very new to gardening and am trying to figure out what type of soil I have where I want to make a flower bed? I think it might be silt but I'm wondering if anyone can tell from looking? Maybe a silly question.. 

It's quite grainy feeling and crumbly. When I wet it and roll it into a ball it doesn't hold well, and crumbles when I press it.. 

 

Posts

  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    It looks like good soil, maybe quite free draining. If plants seem to thrive in it that a good indication.
    Also see which plants do well in other gardens around you.

    If you're in England you can put your postcode into the Search here and it will give you some general info about the soil in your area.
    http://www.landis.org.uk/soilscapes/

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,618
    Sandy loam.
  • bcpathomebcpathome Posts: 1,313
    I was going to say sandy too .Lucky you ! I grow on clay and chalk it’s really difficult ,I reckon you could grow a huge variety of plants if it’s all like that .
  • esd123esd123 Posts: 21
    Thank you everyone! I'm glad to hear it seems like good soil.. fingers crossed this is a good start for my flower beds! 
  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    edited September 2022
    Looks like good stuff.

    Dig a repesentative sample from at least  6 inches down.  Put some in glass or bottle.  Swish aroung to disperse well.  Leave to settle.

    The lowest level is sand, the next is silt, the next is clay, the top is humus, and there may be bits of decaying plant floating on the top.  Anything whitish is chalk.  You can test for pH at the same time.

    If you are really interested you can repeat at different parts of your garden.
     location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
    "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
  • MikeOxgreenMikeOxgreen Posts: 812
    You can test the PH with a simple test kit, that's quite important for many plants.
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    bédé said:
    Looks like good stuff.

    Dig a repesentative sample from at least  6 inches down.  Put some in glass or bottle.  Swish aroung to disperse well.  Leave to settle.

    The lowest level is sand, the next is silt, the next is clay, the top is humus, and there may be bits of decaying plant floating on the top.  Anything whitish is chalk.  You can test for pH at the same time.

    If you are really interested you can repeat at different parts of your garden.

    It'll perhaps look something like this (from 3 locations in my garden - it was an experiment on an Open University course that I did). My soil is pretty sandy with only a tiny amount of clay particles (the thin light-coloured layer at the top of the sediment i the clay).



    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
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