Loam

Loam is soil with a balanced mixture of sand, silt, and clay, often enriched with organic matter. Its texture combines drainage, water retention, and nutrient-holding capacity.

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Sand: Sand is a coarse-grained soil particle fraction, typically defined by mineral grains about 0.05 to 2 millimeters across. Its large grains create the drainage and aeration that balance loam’s finer particles.
Soil porosity: Soil porosity is the fraction of soil volume occupied by pores containing air or water. Loam’s range of particle sizes creates pores that can hold water while allowing air circulation.
Soil fertility: Soil fertility is a soil’s capacity to supply essential nutrients in forms and amounts plants can use. Loam’s nutrient retention can support fertility, though texture alone does not guarantee it.
Sandy soil: Sandy soil contains a high proportion of sand-sized particles and typically drains rapidly. Compared with loam, it generally holds less water and fewer nutrients.
Silt: Silt is a fine mineral particle fraction, intermediate in size between sand and clay. Its intermediate grains help give loam a soft texture and moderate water retention.
Water-holding capacity: Water-holding capacity is the amount of water a soil retains after excess water drains away. Loam often balances retention by fine particles with drainage through larger pores.
Raised-bed gardening: Raised-bed gardening grows plants in soil contained above the surrounding ground, often in framed beds. Loam-like mixes are commonly used in beds to combine workable texture with water retention.
Clay soil: Clay soil contains a high proportion of clay-sized particles and often drains slowly. Its fine texture contrasts with loam’s more balanced particle-size mixture.
Clay: Clay is a fine-grained mineral soil fraction whose particles are smaller than those of silt. Its tiny particles retain water and nutrients, offsetting loam’s freely draining sand.
Cation-exchange capacity: Cation-exchange capacity measures a soil’s ability to retain and exchange positively charged ions. Clay and organic matter give many loams surfaces that hold plant nutrients.