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Factsheet: Soil Types
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What are the main types of soil?

Sandy
Soils

Silty
Soils

Clay
Soils

Warms up quickly in Spring

Deposited by rivers and lakes Warm up slowly in Spring

Are light and easy to work

Warm up quicker than clay

but slower that silt soils in
Spring

Are free-draining
Can dry out in dry weather

Keep water longer than

sandy soils

Tend to be low in nutrients

Contain a mix of sand, silt,

and clay particles

Calcareous
Soils
Come from chalk and
limestone rocks

Warm up fairly early in Spring Contain calcium carbonate

and flints
Are easy to work
Tend to be alkaline
Usually need draining
Usually free-draining
Should not be worked when
May be low in some nutrients
wet
Tend to be rich in nutrients

Lie wet and prone to

waterlogging
Tend to be rich in nutrients

Difficult to drain, but less

Can be worked at almost any likely to waterlog that clay
time
Tend to be fertile
Need liming little and often

Loamy
Soils

Heavy soils needing welltimed cultivation

Do not usually need liming

Should not be worked when

wet
Need regular liming

Peaty
Soils
Dark in colour, so warm up
quickly in Spring
Hold on to water well and can
be easy to work
Come from the build up of
dead rotted plants, so contain
lots of organic matter
Tend to be acid
Usually high in Nitrogen

Also see the

Testing
Soils sheet

Soil-net.com