Good soil needs a balanced mix of sand, silt, clay and organic matter ... 40% organic compost for nutrients and about 20% clay for structure. That gives plants support, and their roots room ...

but supports drought-tolerant plants. Silt: More fertile than sandy soil, silt particles’ size is between large sand and small clay; these soils often are fine and soft. Clay: Clay soil ...

Soils can be thought of as storehouses for plant ... by crops. The relative ability of soils to store one particular group of nutrients, the cations, is referred to as cation exchange capacity or CEC.

Read your favorite plants’ soil descriptions to learn ... which is a fairly balanced blend of clay, sand, and silt. Loamy soil drains well and is high in nutrients. The pH level varies, but ...