By: The Lone Gardener
1. Put a full trowel of soil into a graduated cylinder or other glass container with
straight sides. Fill the container almost to the top with water. Cover and shake the container, then watch the soil particles settle out. Stones and pebbles, obviously,
will sink first. Sand particles will settle out next, then silt, and finally, clay. Very tiny clay particles may not settle at all, but remain suspended in the water. Dark particles
of organic matter will either settle on top of the clay, or will float.
2. A couple of days after a good rain, scoop up a ball of soil small enough to hold in your hand and enclose with your fingers, about the size of a golf ball. Squeeze and slide
the soil between your thumb and index finger to feel its texture. Sandy soil will feeI gritty, silty soil will feel smooth. Clay soil will feel slippery.
3. Take that same ball of soil and squeeze it in your hand, then open your fingers. If the ball crumbles immediately and will not hold together at all, the soil is probably sandy. If the ball crumbles slowly, the soil is loamy (and probably ready to work if you are performing the test in early spring). If the ball sticks together, the soil contains clay; if you can roll the ball out into a rope, a substantial amount of clay is present.
4. If you suspect that your soil drains too quickly, thoroughly water a small patch of garden. Two days later, go back to the spot and dig a 6-inch-deep hole with a trowel. Feel the soil in the bottom of the hole; if it feels quite dry, your soil does indeed drain too rapidly.
5. If you suspect that your soil drains too slowly, dig a good-size hole, about a foot deep and half a foot wide. Fill the hole with water and let it drain. As soon as it empties, fill it again, and observe how long it takes for the water to drain off. If there is still some water in the hole after eight hours, the drainage is poor.
