Soil Guide
Match the soil to the plants already in your plan — then test what you have and fix only what’s off.
Read the transcript
Hi, I’m Clover! Before we plant anything, let’s peek inside this raised bed. Not all soil is the same.
Sandy soil has big, gritty grains. Squeeze it, and it falls apart. Water rushes straight through, so it dries out fast.
Clay is the opposite. Its tiny, flat bits pack tight. It feels sticky, makes a shiny ribbon, and holds water so long that roots can drown.
Silty soil sits in between. It feels smooth, like flour. It holds moisture well, but packs down hard if you walk on it.
And loam is the sweet spot. Sand, silt and clay, plus plenty of compost. It holds a soft ball, drains well, and stays just moist enough. Plants love it.
Not sure what you’ve got? Try the squeeze test, then check the Soil Guide at Hannah’s Plants dot com.
Bed target
Test what you have
Start with the free tests. Fill in what you find and the recipe below updates as you go.
This afternoon, free — three quick tests
Feel test (texture)
Squeeze a handful of damp (not wet) soil. Falls apart and gritty → sandy. Holds a soft ball and feels a little silky → loam. Makes a shiny ribbon longer than 2 inches and feels sticky → clay.
Read the transcript
Want to know your soil type, no lab needed? All it takes is one handful of soil, and the squeeze test.
First, dig a small handful from a few inches down. Pick out any rocks and roots.
Add water a little at a time, until it feels like damp cookie dough. Moist, not soggy.
Now squeeze it into a ball. If it falls apart and won’t hold together, that’s sandy soil.
If it holds, push it between your thumb and finger into a flat ribbon, until it breaks.
No ribbon, or under an inch? That’s loam. One to two inches? Clay loam. Over two inches, shiny and sticky? That’s clay.
Still unsure? Rub a wet pinch. Gritty means more sand. Smooth, like flour, means more silt.
Then pick your result in the Soil Guide at Hannah’s Plants dot com, and your bed’s recipe updates to match.
Drainage hole test
Dig a hole 12 inches deep and fill it with water. Let it drain, fill it again, and time it. Gone in under 1 hour → drains fast. 1–4 hours → good. Still standing after 8 hours → poor drainage.
Look and smell
Dark, earthy and crumbly means decent organic matter. Sour, gray or a hard crust means trouble.
Jar test (optional, 24 hours)
Fill a quart jar half with soil and half with water, add a drop of dish soap, shake for 2 minutes and let it sit. Sand settles in about a minute, silt in a few hours, and clay stays cloudy overnight. The layers give a rough sand / silt / clay split — enough to choose between “add compost” and “don’t add sand.”
This week, about $10–20 — a home pH kit or strips
pH is the number that matters most. Treat the N-P-K colour charts as a rough hint, not a prescription.
Sample 5–8 spots in the bed, 4–6 inches deep, mix them in a clean bucket and air-dry a handful. Don’t sample right after fertilizing or liming.
If something keeps going wrong — a lab test
Home kits are a good starting point, not a lab result. For a problem you can’t explain, a university lab test is the accurate option: search for your local cooperative extension office, and ask for “vegetable garden” as the crop. Retest 3–4 months after any lime or sulfur, and otherwise every 2–3 years (every spring for the first two years of a new bed).
What did you find?
Adjust to match
Reference: ways to adjust soil
Raise pH (soil too acidic)
- Garden lime (calcitic) is the default.
- Dolomitic lime only if a lab says magnesium is low.
- Work it in, water, wait months, then retest.
- Wood ash: small amounts only. Easy to overdo, so it isn’t the default.
Lower pH (soil too alkaline)
- Elemental sulfur is slow. Follow the label.
- Sphagnum peat or coir plus compost is gentler and good for small beds.
- Don’t chase a number every week.
Add organic matter
- Finished compost is the yearly habit (½–2 in).
- Leaf mold helps drainage and water holding.
- Compost and worm castings make a good side-dress for hungry plants.
- Cover crops (winter rye, clover, buckwheat) for beds that will sit empty.
Improve clay
- Compost, again and again, in thin layers.
- Don’t work wet clay.
- Mulch so rain doesn’t crust the surface.
- Sand only with organic matter, never sand alone.
Improve sand
- Compost and leaf mold.
- Mulch to slow evaporation.
- Smaller, more frequent waterings until the organic matter builds.
Drainage
- Raise the bed 8–12 in if water stands.
- Don’t put a gravel layer under the soil in a closed box. It can make a soggy layer.
- Containers: drainage holes and potting mix, never yard soil.
Things this guide won’t tell you to do
- Use fresh manure, especially human, pet or pig manure.
- Add gypsum as a magic clay fixer without a test. Most backyard clay needs organic matter.
- “Just add more 10-10-10” as a soil strategy.
- Till wet ground.
- Lime because “tomatoes like sweet soil,” with no measurement.