Soil Texture
By Zola Ryan
| There is an amazing variety of soils in Wyoming. This colorful soils map illustrates that in a mind boggling sort of way. And if you think that map is wild, listen to some of these names for soils. Typic hapludalfs. Ustic Natrarids. What?! |
| Well, those are some pretty technical ways of describing soils. But most of the time, when we talk about soils we can talk about soil texture, and that’s a lot more simple. Texture means the size of the individual particles of soil. There are three classes: Clay, Silt, and Sand. And if a Soil has an even mix of all three sizes we call that a loam. |
| Want to know if a soil is a clay? Well, just grab a handful, add a little bit of water, and massage it in your hand until it’s a nice even texture and then you can try to moosh it out into a ribbon between thumb and forefinger. If it forms a nice long ribbon, that’s a clay. The particles are very, very small. If the soil won’t even clump together in your hand, then that’s a sandy soil. Those particles are really large. |
| Silty soils have mid-size particles. To recognize a silt, put a pinch in your hand. Add a little bit of water. When you rub it around in the palm of our hand it should feel very smooth but not sticky. So grab the kids and head outside to try this for yourself. From the University of Wyoming Cooperative Extension Service, I’m Zola Ryan. |