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Gardening

Find tips and tricks to make your garden or allotment flourish on our Gardening forum.

Original poster

How do I find out what soil I have??

16 replies

artylady14 · 31/03/2015 16:12

Hope this isnt a stupid question. I have no idea what type of soil is in my garden? How would I find out?

OP posts:
RoganJosh · 31/03/2015 16:16

There are a few maps out there, one is here
www.landis.org.uk/soilscapes/
I saw a simpler looking one the other day.
A quick Google of your biggest town should help too.

AlternativeTentacles · 31/03/2015 16:17

Dig a hole a foot down and look at it. One spade depth should do it.

You know the difference between sand and clay? Clay is smooth solid and sand will fall apart in your hand and is gritty. If it is solid and a little gritty then clayey sand/sandy clay or silty sand or clay.

Why do you want to know?

Methe · 31/03/2015 16:24

You can buy soil PH testers in any DIY outlet if that's what you mean?

ArcangelaTarabotti · 31/03/2015 16:29

Don't ask a gardening company! Mine told me was London Clay (we are in London Grin. Today I was digging - is the sandiest soil you can imagine no good for roses.

ArcangelaTarabotti · 31/03/2015 16:31

Talk to your neighbours. What do they grow? If is camellias etc - is acidic.

Original poster
artylady14 · 31/03/2015 17:29

My neighbours dont grow anything! We are on a new housing development with tiny gardens that are paved over or havea bit of lawn. We are the only people on our road starting over and trying to plant flowers. Thanks for the tips!

OP posts:
Pipbin · 31/03/2015 17:34

This is helpful: www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=179

Original poster
artylady14 · 31/03/2015 17:35

ps. I want to know because I am researching roses and plants for my garden.

OP posts:
AlternativeTentacles · 31/03/2015 17:44

If you are on a new housing development you probably have no soil and have plenty of hardcore under the garden.

Don't research until you have put a spade in the ground.

ArcangelaTarabotti · 31/03/2015 17:56

yy about the hardcore.
Was recently digging in our fornt garden which had not bee touched since the house was built in the 70s. At that time it was a new development... And loads of rubble buried only just below the surface, with a thin layer of topsoil... Definitely get digging ( hire a skip...?) before you make any planting plans..

Original poster
artylady14 · 31/03/2015 18:14

That is strange. The gardener advised me to buy my rose bushes myself at the beginning of May and they are coming to help plant them mid-May. I'm letting them buy the fuschias and lavender we are planting. We do have exactly that problem re rubble- the gardeners found that there was loads of rubble beneath the surface in our back garden and told us to complain to the building company (who have done nothing yet). She said it would be fine to plant though.

I'm completely new to gardening so just trusting their opinion!

OP posts:
AlternativeTentacles · 31/03/2015 18:31

If you have a gardener why haven't they told you what sort of soil you have?

Original poster
artylady14 · 31/03/2015 23:29

I dont know why she brushed that question off!! Will speak to her again

OP posts:
ArcangelaTarabotti · 02/04/2015 20:56

If you have sandy soil you will need to do a lot of soil conditioning for them to flourish

Unescorted · 03/04/2015 09:46

yy - on a new devlopment you will have a few cm of top soil and then churned sub soil. When soil is taken off site it is treated as "contaminated" waste, although they will have tested the soil for contaminants so it is not danerous. This means that the disposal is taxed at a much higher rate. The developers will have kept as much of the sub soil on site to reduce the costs. They then put a thin skim of top soil over the top. The top soil will have come from anywhere so will have very little in common with your subsoil.

To test your soil you need to take a sample of the top soil and the sub soil. For ph use a testing kit. Test away from fence lines as you are more likely to get an unreliable result due to paint etc being droped.

For structure take a pinch and spit on it (water doesn't work so well) rub it between your fingers - if it is smeary and sticky it is a clayey soil. if you feel grit and it doesn't stick to your fingers it is sandy. A silty soil will both stick to your fingers and feel slightly gritty (like a course toothpaste). All soils are a mix of all 3. A seconday structure test is to take a small amount in your hand and squeeze it into a ball - if it stays in a tight ball it is clay, if it is a ball to start but crumbles when you poke it with a finger it is a loam (equal quantities of sand, silt and clay). A sandy soil doesn't form a ball. The third test to do is dig a pit and check for gaps (or lack of) between the soil lumps - for this test you are looking for compaction. A compact soil will be hard to dig and have no air holes. The pit will also

With all soils if in doubt add plenty of organic material - it opens up a compacted, clayey soil, and improves water retention in a sandy soil.

Original poster
artylady14 · 03/04/2015 22:49

Thanks for all this information Smile

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