Testing soil texture & drainage

According to it’s composition a soil is classified as ‘sandy’, ‘loamy’ or ‘clayey’.

• Sandy soil shows great aeration and drainage, dries out quickly, it’s often poor because it doesn’t keep nutrients well and doesn’t break down easily to offer new nutrients

• Loamy soil shows good balance between aeration and drainage, has good water retention, keeps nutrients and breaks down into nutrients.

• Clayey soil is heavy, doesn’t drain well, plants get waterlogged, nutrient rich

Take a handful of soil from your garden (moist but not wet), give it a firm squeeze and check the resulting bolus. Also try to roll it between two hands to form a ribbon.

no coherence, no ribbon, grains stick to your fingers Sandfragile bolus, no more than 5 mm ribbon Loamy sandfragile bolus, sticky when wet, grains stick to your fingers, clay stainson fingers, up to 15 mm ribbonClayey sandfragile bolus, sand grains visible, up to 25 mm ribbon Sandy loamcoherent bolus, spongy, no obvious sand, up to 25 mm ribbon, may feelgreasy if much organic matter is presentLoamcoherent but will crumble, very smooth and silky, 25 mm ribbon Silty loamstrongly coherent bolus, sand grains, 25 to 40 cm ribbon Sandy clay loamcoherent bolus, spongy feel, plastic when squeezed, smooth to manipulate,40 to 50 cm ribbonClay loamplastic bolus, sand grains, 50 to 75 mm ribbon Sandy claysmooth plastic bolus, 50 to 75 mm ribbon Light claysmooth plastic bolus, like plasticine, 50 to 75 mm ribbon Medium claysmooth plastic bolus, like stiff plasticine, at least 75 mm ribbon Heavy clay

Testing soil drainage

Dig a hole 15 cm square, 30 cm deep. Fill the hole with water and let it drain completely, then fill it with water again. If it takes longer than four hours to drain, drainage is poor.