When soil is defined, it is done so by textures and classified by the fractions of sand, silt, and clay. The loam is the concentration of the sand, silt, and clay, therefore it is referred to as “sandy clay” or “silty clay”. Sandy loam soil is relatively equal in proportions with all three of these fractions. No matter which geographical area you live in, soils usually have a substantial amount of organic matter which will also determine the actual total pore space.
You can take a random sample to a professional soil testing lab for a complete analysis. Another simple and fairly accurate method of testing can be done rather easily in your own back yard.. Using a quart to a gallon size clear class jar, place a little of your soil in the jar using random samples from the proposed bed with approximately 10 times the amount of water. Shake very well and let it settle. Using a marker, mark the levels of sediment after a few minutes, after several hours, and then after several days. Each period, mark the distances of each layer and the overall height. The bottom layer will be the sand, the second layer is the silt, and the top layer will be the clay. By testing your own soil and making some adjustments you can improve the health of your garden.
A farmer or backyard vegetable gardener’s dream is to possess sandy loam soil especially if he or she is planting produce such as melons, tomatoes, okra, squash, citrus, and persimmon which do very well in the warmer climates. As you can see, you can choose from a wide range of vegetables and fruits to grow with this type of soil. Also you can go to your local nursery and check for plants in your climate that do very well in this type of soil.
If you want to plant a rose garden, they do very well when they have a bed of perfectly balanced loam, however they require a good fertilizing regimen, nutrients and good drainage. Roses bloom very poorly in clay as it is too dense for their roots to aerate properly. Jasmine also will grow best in moist loam soils but careful attention has to be paid to drainage. There are a number of other flowers such as Wild Bergamot, Wood Anemone, Spider- wort, Amaryllis, California poppy, Yucca and Baby’s-breath which will all thrive in sandy loam.
