For those who enjoy gardening with plants, shrubs, flowers or vegetables, the one of most important aspect is the quality of your soil. Soil is never straightforward due to its changeable properties from one place to another, and this being the case, gardeners have to be selective about what they choose to grow.

If you’re a novice gardener or are trying to understand the main differences between different types of soil, then there are some basic types which you can learn about.

The first kind of soil we’re talking about here is clay soil. Clay soils are called so because they are heavy in clay content, which makes them heavy, sticky and often wetter than other soils. Poor draining soils are often found to contain heavy clay content, meaning they become water-sodden much more easily. Clay soil is difficult to work unless adequate compensation is made by the addition of sand to loosen it up. Well drained clay soil will make vegetation grow superbly due to the remarkable levels of plant nutrients in clay compounds.

Soil with a high sand content is often very easily drained and contains less nutrients due to the easier floe of water through it. Sandy soil with a good organic matter content should be able to hold enough moisture and nutrients to make it very successful as a growing medium.

Avoiding chalky soil is sound advice for gardeners because these soils make for poor quality. Chalk soil can contain a lot of stones and it’s often found to be the cause of yellowing leaves as water drains away too quickly and essential nutrients are blocked.

The main kinds of soil then to look out for are listed here, but you can get others like silty and peaty. Almost all soil can be utilised by skilful gardeners, but chalky soil can require so many additional nutrients and organic matter that it makes the job seem worthless.