Key Benefits of Growing Plants in a Loam Soil

Although the word ‘loam’ has a variety of definitions and applications, one is extremely important for gardeners when talking about soil types. Here Madingley Mulch, who supply loam soil to customers from our base near Cambridge, explain what it is, why it is so good for your plants, why many gardens in East Anglia don’t have it – and how we can help thanks to our variety of soil improvers and conditioners.

What is Loam Soil?

A loam is defined as ‘a fertile soil which is made up of organic matter mixed with clay, sand and silt’. This means it’s suitable not just for gardening but also in agriculture. It is possible to have variations – for example, a sandy loam soil has higher proportions of sand, while a clay loam has more clay.

Advantages of Loam Soil

There are a number of advantages to having a loam soil, including:

Fertility – loam soil contains a lot of organic matter which provides essential nutrients to plants, promoting healthy growth and development. Additionally, loam soil has a balanced pH level, which further supports nutrient availability.

Good Moisture Retention and Drainage – although this might seem like a contradiction, loam soil does both. The mixture of particles creates a balanced soil structure that allows excess water to drain away, which avoids problems like waterlogging. However, the soil will still retain enough moisture to benefit the plants.

Better Root Development – loam soil is relatively loose and well aerated, which allows roots to grow through it (and to a good depth). This in turn improves nutrient and water absorption, leading to healthier and more resilient plants.

Easy to Work With – loam soil is relatively easy to cultivate and work with due to its balanced texture. It can be easily tilled, planted, and transplanted, which is partly why it’s suitable for agricultural as well as horticultural uses.

Less Risk of Erosion – because the fine particles in the soil knit together well with the organic matter (particularly the clay and silt ones) there’s less risk of it being blown away by wind, or being washed away by a lot of rain.

Loam Soil in The East of England

However, most soils in the East of England, including the Cambridge area, are heavy in clay – and at too high of a concentration to be considered a clay loam. This means it retains water and nutrients very well – in fact almost too well, as it’s slow to drain and prone to becoming waterlogged. For more details on the various soil types, check out our previous blog post here.

Fortunately, though, although nature might be against gardeners in the East of England, help is at hand – in the form of a variety of soil conditioners and improvers we stock at Madingley Mulch.

Loam Soil in Cambridge from Madingley Mulch

We stock a blended loam soil, pictured above, which is light and easy to work with, and is suitable for a wide range of planting and landscaping applications (although you should try to avoid laying it down in wet weather). We also stock 6mm horticultural grit, which will help break any clay soil down. Our spent mushroom compost and our exclusive products, Tony’s Tonic and Denise’s Delight, will help as they add valuable nutrients to the soil.

And if you want to grow a new lawn on top of your soil, then you should consider a lawn top dressing mix, which we can supply in Hertfordshire, Essex and Suffolk as well as Cambridgeshire. This loam blend includes sharp sand and peat that will encourage grass, whether it’s being grown from turf or seedlings.

If you need to place a bulk order, remember we can deliver to you. Our regular areas include Newmarket, Huntingdon, Royston and Saffron Walden, but we can arrange for deliveries further afield. For more details, click here.

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