What Is Garden Soil?
Just what is garden soil?
Did you ever wonder about where that dirt came from in your garden? Well, here’s the story!
Soil begins when friction, heat and water erosion cause rocks to crumble and break up over long periods of time. Animals and plants die and decay, and mix in with the crumbling rock, and eventually produce basically three kinds of soil.
What is garden soil #1 – Sand Castles in the Garden
The first kind of dirt, sandy soil, is produced from the mechanical action of rocks rubbing together, becoming finer and finer in texture until you have masses of pure sand like that found on seashores. When animal and vegetable matter decays and mixes in, it produces that sandy soil in your garden.
Sand is the largest particle of soil that can be found in the garden. It has rough edges, and doesn’t hold water very well. The best gardening advice for sand is to improve the texture with large amounts of composted material.
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What is Garden Soil #2 – Gardening in Clay
Clay soils are made when portions of rock masses become dissolved by water trickling over them in the presence of lots of heat. A chemical change is caused by the carbonic acid gas present eating away at rock and changing it into clay. These clay soils found in many gardens are often called mud soils because of the amount of water used in their formation.
The clay soil in a garden is made of very fine particles. It is smooth when dry and sticky when wet. Soils high in clay content are called heavy soils. Clay also can hold a lot of nutrients, but doesn’t let air and water through very well. Once again, the best gardening advice is to add compost. It will help lighten the soil and make it better garden material.
What is Garden Soil #2 – Limestone Soil & How Sweet It Is!
Lime soil is formed from limestone – no surprise there. The limestone itself is a sedimentary rock made mostly of calcite. Limestone is formed by chemical deposition, or more often by the accumulation of shells from sea creatures.
Many invertebrate animals (critters with no backbones), take calcite from sea water to make their shells, so when they die and the shells are deposited on the sea bed, limestone is formed. This happens chiefly when there isn’t much sand or mud and just layer after layer of shells are pressed down to form the limestone.
One type of limestone which is very pure is called chalk, but most limestone soils found in the garden contain variable amounts of mud or sand or other material. The particle size is in-between sand and clay, making it a much better all-around garden soil.
No matter which kind of soil you have, the best gardening advice is to improve the texture by adding the right kind of amendments and make a better habitat for your plants.
So now you know the answer to “what is garden soil?” And whether it’s sand, clay, or lime, you can make it better. Time to go and play in that dirt!
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Tags: garden soil, clay soils, what is garden soil, kinds of soil, garden material, clay content
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