Get to know your soils better

Getting to know the soils in the garden or yard can provide insights into what they consist of, what they are capable of producing, what their water holding capacity is, what they are best suited for, how they can be managed, and many other details.

Identifying soil types is a first step to understanding their potentials. Once the basic characteristics are known it is easier to develop plans for managing them. For example, many of our Adams and Grant County soils consist of sandy loam and silt loam textures, are relatively low in organic matter, tend to be neutral to moderately alkaline (pH), and may not need to be watered as often as soils that consist entirely of sand.

Some soils have limiting features like high water tables, are shallow to basalt bedrock or caliche (a calcium carbonate cemented layer), or have a high percentage of sand and gravel in the soil profile. Very sandy soils are primarily in the Black Sands area (Irrigation Block 89) near Dodson Road west of Moses Lake, peaty (organic) soils occur near Wilson Creek in the Crab Creek floodplain, and deep windblown rock-free loess soils are in the Hartline area, south of Coulee City, and in the Beezley Hills south of Ephrata. Fine textured soils are present south of Lind Coulee and there are gravelly and stony soils in the Moses Lake-Ephrata-Soap Lake areas.

Gardeners are encouraged to view hard copies of the Soil Survey of Adams or Grant County available through the U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) or the public library. Alternatively, there is an easy to access resource to use to learn about soils throughout the U.S. by visiting the UDSA NRCS Web Soil Survey page at http://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov/app/HomePage.htm and to find out what the soils are on site-specific locations and on individual properties visit the UC Davis SoilWeb Apps page at http://casoilresource.lawr.ucdavis.edu/soilweb-apps/.

Master Gardeners may be able to assist in determining what your soils are like, what they can best grow, and offer suggestions about what to do to improve them.

For answers to gardening questions, contact the Master Gardeners at the WSU Grant-Adams Extension office at 754-2011, Ext. 4313 or email your gardening questions to ga.mgvolunteers@wsu.edu. Visit our web page at http://grant-adams.wsu.edu.