Sandy Clay Loam Soil

What makes a soil sandy clay loam

Sandy clay loam is a sandy soil with real clay in it. The Soil Survey Manual sets it at 20 to under 35% clay, less than 28% silt and more than 45% sand.^[1] On the triangle: 20 ≤ clay < 35 and silt < 28 and sand > 45.

Squeeze a moist sample and it pushes out a ribbon one to two inches long that still feels very gritty.^[2]

A point or two is enough to cross its boundaries. In our texture classifier a 62/19/19 sand/silt/clay mix is sandy loam and 62/18/20 is sandy clay loam; 56/10/34 is still sandy clay loam while 56/9/35 is sandy clay; and dropping sand from 46 to 44% turns 46/26/28 into clay loam. So the clay floor is 20%, the clay ceiling 35%, and the sand floor sits just above 45%.^[1]

Does sandy clay loam drain well?

Usually, and better than its clay content suggests. 90.8% of sandy clay loam acres are well drained, the highest share of any texture class.^[4] Water moves through the topsoil at a median 9 µm/s, about 1.3 inches an hour, the same median as loam, and the soil holds 1.7 inches of plant-available water per foot.

Runoff is moderate rather than high. 45.4% of the class is in hydrologic soil group B, where water soaks in without restriction, 32.6% in group C, where it soaks in somewhat slowly, and 18.5% in group D.^[5] Its organic matter is thin, a median 1.0%, tied with sandy clay for the second lowest, after sand.

What sandy clay loam is good for

USDA rates 49% of rated sandy clay loam acres in Classes I–IV, the cultivable range, with 12% in the top two classes; the rest is Class V–VIII land, used mainly for pasture, range, woodland or wildlife.^[6] 13.6% of its acres are mapped prime farmland.^[3][7]

What holds it back is erosion. Subclass e, erosion as the main hazard, applies to 60.0% of rated acres, while excess water (w) applies to only 4.0%.^[6]

In a garden, raise that low organic matter first. Rates for an existing bed are in how to improve garden soil, and the compost calculator turns them into cubic yards. Test pH as well, because the class splits: 44.8% of its acres are acid and 37.9% alkaline in the survey.^[3][8]

For building, its shrink-swell is low: the median linear extensibility of sandy clay loam topsoils is 1.5%, in USDA’s low class, the same as sandy loam’s.^[9] An address check with the expansive soil checker reads the layers below the surface too.

Sandy clay loam vs sandy loam, clay loam and sandy clay

The neighbors it gets confused with differ in clay and sand. Sandy loam has under 20% clay; clay loam reaches 27 to 40% clay with less sand (20 to 45%); sandy clay keeps the sand above 45% but pushes clay to 35% or more. In the survey, shrink-swell rises between sandy clay loam and those two clay-rich neighbors.^[1]

Where sandy clay loam is found

No state is mostly sandy clay loam. Its largest share of any state’s classified acres is 9.7% in North Carolina, followed by Georgia at 6.5% and South Carolina at 4.8%.^[3]

Most widespread sandy clay loam soil series

Cecil, mapped most in Georgia, leads: a very deep, well-drained soil of the Piedmont uplands that formed in residuum weathered from felsic igneous and high-grade metamorphic rocks.^[10] Pacolet, Fairview and Madison follow in the table.

Cecil’s red color comes from iron oxides through the profile;^[11] how to work a red clay is on how to amend clay soil.

Sandy clay loam in a trench

OSHA lists sandy clay loam as a soil that can, in some cases, rate Type A, its most stable excavation class. That depends on the soil’s strength and on it not being fissured or previously disturbed, and a competent person makes the call on site.^[12] The engineering systems are compared on the soil types hub.

Frequently asked questions

What is sandy clay loam?

A USDA texture class with 20–35% clay, under 28% silt and over 45% sand: gritty to the touch but sticky enough to ribbon one to two inches.^[1][2]

What is sandy clay loam good for?

Crops and gardens on the gentler ground: 49% of its rated acres are cultivable and 13.6% is prime farmland. Erosion on slopes is its most common limitation.^[3][6][7]

Does sandy clay loam hold water?

Moderately. Its topsoils hold a median 1.7 inches of water per foot, and 90.8% of its acres are well drained, so it rarely stays waterlogged.^[3][4]

Is sandy clay loam the same as sandy clay?

No. Sandy clay has 35% or more clay; sandy clay loam stops below 35%. At 56/9/35 sand/silt/clay a soil is already sandy clay.^[1]

Where is sandy clay loam found?

Texas, North Carolina and Georgia have the most acres; relative to each state’s own soil it is most common in North Carolina.^[3]