How to Test your soil

How to find out the type of soil in a garden
How to test for the pH of the soil in your garden

Finding out what type of soil in a garden
A simple way of testing your garden soil is to take a small amount of wet soil in your hand and knead it into a smooth paste and then roll it about between your hands to form a ball.

If its Sticky and gritty its loam.

If it easily rolls into a ball and becomes shiny but not gritty its clay

If it wont roll into a ball  and feels gritty its sand

If it feels slippery and silky its probably a silty loam

How to Find out the pH of the soil in your garden

Soil pH is a measure of the soil’s acidity or alkalinity. Alkaline soil has a pH of around 8.5 whilst the pH of neutral soil is 7. Knowing the pH of your soil will help in your choice of grasses and wildflowers to sow or plant.

You can easily test the pH with a  the low cost simple soil pH meter, which is simply pushed into the ground, or if you feel you need more reliable results, use the kit that includes colour charts and tubes both are featured just below on this page .

What do the results of your soil pH test mean

Uk garden soil is usually a combination of two or three of these soil types

Sandy Soils

Sandy Soil has a gritty texture and is formed from weathered rock like limestone, quartz, granite, and shale.,it is easy to cultivate, but dosent retain moisture or nutrients very well. Adding lots of organic matter helps and on the plus side sandy soil is easy to dig over. The easy solution is to grow plants that like sandy soil, like some herbs.
Plants that will grow in Sandy soil plants for sandy soil

Silty Soil

Silty soil is very fertile soil, holding more nutrients than sandy soil holds moisture and drains well. It has a smooth dark texture and looks like dark sand.
 

Clay Soil

When clay soils are wet they are very sticky, lumpy and pliable but when they dry  form rock-hard clots. They are hard to work and are also prone to water logging. Blue or grey clays have poor aeration and would need to be improved to grow most plants. Red clay soil has good aeration and drains well but is still difficult to dig over.  Because clay soil has high nutrient levels, its worth sorting out the garden drainage as most plants will grow well in it. 
These plants thrive in clay plants to grow in clay

Loamy Soil

 Loamy soils are a combination of  sand, silt and clay. Loamy soils are mostly easy to dig over very fertile and full of organic matter, they drain well,retain moisture and hold lots of nutrients, the perfect soil.

Peaty Soil

Peaty soil contains more organic material than other soils but fewer nutrients and is prone to soggyness. You may need to use fertilisers and sort out the drainage to get the best out of your plants.

Chalky Soil

Chalky soils are alkaline and full of stones, dry out quickly and lack trace elements such as iron and manganese causing poor growth and yellowing of leaves. Chalky soil is extremely poor quality and would need to be greatly improved to grow most garden plants.
These plants will grow in chalky soil  plants for chalky soil

Its costly to change the pH of your soil and does'nt work over the long term anyway, instead try growing plants that will be happy in your type of soil.

The wild flowers you choose, whether you are  transplanting  container grown wild meadow flowers, or sowing wild flower seeds must  suit your type of soil. Acid clay, Chalk or Sandy soil. I have listed a few species of wild flowers and the soil they thrive in best.  

Clay soil:  Bird's foot trefoil, Greater knapweed,Self heal,Lady's smock,Meadow cranesbill, Yarrow,Red clover,Ragged robin,Meadow buttercup,Lady's bedstraw,Field scabious,Betony and my favorite wild flower Ox-eye Daisy.

Loam:   Bladder Campion, Common SorrelYellow RattleMeadow ButtercupSelfhealCowslipHoary Plantain Ribwort Plantain Musk Mallow Birdsfoot Trefoil Oxeye DaisyRough HawkbitField ScabiousMeadow CranesbillLady's Bedstraw Common Knapweed Yarrow

Acid:   Wild Basil, ladys Bedstraw, Betony, birds-foot-trefoil, Meadow Buttercup, White Campion, Cats-ear, Oxeye daisy, Rough Hawkbit, Common Knapweed, Musk Mallow, Ribwort Plantain, Ragged Robin, Perforate St Johns-wort, Scabious Devils Bit, Selfheal, Common Sorrel, Common Toadflax, Yarrow, Yellow Rattle/Field scabious.

Chalk and limestone: Agrimony, Wild Basil, Ladys Bedstraw, Birds-foot-trefoil, Burnet Salad, Wild Carrot, Cowslip, Oxeye Daisy, Rough Hawkbit, Common and Greater Knapweed, Black Medic, Wild Migonette, Hoary Plantain, Field and Small Scabious, Selfheal, Kidney Vetch, Yarrow, Yellow-Rattle/Field Scabious.

Sandy soil: Ladys Bedstraw, Common Birds-foot-trefoil, Bladder Campion, Wild Carrot, Oxeye Daisy, Dandelion, Field Forget-me-not, Rough Hawkbit, Common Knapweed, Musk Mallow, Black Medick, Wild Mignonette, Hoary Plantain, St Johns-wort, Selfheal, Kidney Vetch, Vipers-bugloss, Weld, Yarrow, Yellow-Rattle/Field Scabious.

Saturated soil, Wild Pond and streams banks etc. Wild Angelica, Water Avens, Hedge Bedstraw, Birds-foot-trefoil, Red & White Campion, Chicory, Red Clover, Oxeye Daisy, Dames Violet, Dandelion, Hemp-agrimony, Common and Greater Knapweed, Wild Marjoram, Black Medic, Yellow Melilot, Wild Migonette, Garlic Mustard, Scabious, Field and Small Devils-bit, Selfheal, Soapwort, Wild Teasel, Red Valerian, Common Horseshoe and Kidney Vetch, Vipers-bugloss.

Coastal areas  Species Include :- Ladys Bedstraw, Common Birds-foot-trefoil, Sea Campion, Wild Carrot, Cats-ear, Common Centuary, Oxeye Daisy, Common Evening-primrose, Foxglove, Harebell, Hounds-tongue, Common Knapweed, Greater Knapweed, Wild Parsnip, Sea Plantain, Greater Plantain, St Johns-wort, Sheeps Bit, Wild Thyme, Tansy, Alexanders, Everlasting Pea Narrow Leaved, Common Toadflax, Kidney Vetch and Vipers-bugloss.

And some of the more common grasses found in an Olde English hay meadow: Browntop Bent, Red Fescue, Crested Dogstail, Meadow Fescue, Smooth Stalk Meadow Grass and Yorkshire Fog.