Why is it Important to Know the Soil Texture?

Soil Texture is one of the most important soil properties to know.  The amount of sand, silt, and clay in a soil sample can give us information about how much water and nutrients can be stored in the soil, how fast the water will move through the soil, how good a filter the soil is, what kind of structure might form, how much air space the soil has, what kind of organisms will live in the soil, what kind of plants will grow, and how deep the roots will extend.  Sand, silt, and clay also tells us something about what the original parent material (geologic material) of the soil was, if it has changed over time, and the effect of the climate on the parent material over a long period of time.

Photograph © 1997 Wild Moon Studios