When gardening or landscaping, it's important to know the different kinds of soil, since especially in Ireland there can be quite a variety of soils in a fairly small area. The kind of soil we are trying to garden will affect the sorts of plant life that can grow there successfully.
There are four main kinds of soil, made up of five different components. There are peat soils, clay soils, loam soils and sand soils, made up of different amounts of sand, clay, silt, nutrients or minerals, and organic matter, which can also be compost or humus.
Each soil type has its own characteristics, such as knowing how well it holds water or drains, reserves minerals, keeps its structure and its acidity.
Clay is made up of small sticky particles that like to gel together, and due tot he shape of these particles there isn't much space for water to drain out. This also means there isn't much space for air to get in! Clay does bind soil into clumps though, and can be very fertile. You can tell if you're dealing with a clay soil since it's heavier and wetter, with poor drainage and it tends to be colder and darker in colour.
Sandy soils are basically the opposite of clay soils, and they have much higher percentages of sand, making them light and brighter in colour, but not great at holding water or nutrients. Sand is a bigger and harder particle than clay, with a lot of spaces between the grains, giving great aeration and drainage. Something to watch out for with sandy soils is they can dry out quickly.
Silty soils are a variety of sandy soils, but with smaller particles. They are found on flood plains and are usually very fertile, striking a nice balance between retaining water and minerals, drainage and a higher proportion of nutritious minerals.
Peat soil, which can be found in and around bogs, tends to be heavy in organic matter, up to half or more. They're quite acidic and drain poorly, but are otherwsie very fertile.
Loam is basically the perfect soil for gardening and growing things, usually in the region of two fifths sand, a third silt, a fifth clay and the rest organic matter and minerals. Regardless of the type of soil you are dealing with, the amount of organic matter is a fundamental metric which will decide the success or failure of your garden,
Enjoy your garden!
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