Understanding soil is key before starting projects

My favorite days at work usually find me standing in a soil pit or with a bucket auger, sifting through the soil looking for clues. These clues will help me identify how the soil will perform in various circumstances, whether that is agronomic potential, a construction site, as a pond or just about anything else a person wants to do.

These clues can be texture, redoximorphic features, clay content and structure, to name a few. Soil and its characteristics have a large impact on almost everything humans do to alter our surroundings. Before you start, it’s important to understand what soil is present on your site. Fortunately, someone has gone through the trouble of mapping out what soils are where.

Most of the United States has been mapped by the Natural Resources Conservation Service, formerly known as the Soil Conservation Service. Holmes County was mapped from 1981-88. Some may remember seeing or talking with soil scientists out mapping during this time.

Mapping involved soil scientists observing the geology, landforms, relief, climate and natural vegetation, all while digging holes to study the soil profile. Through this process they were able to define soil-vegetation-landscape relationships, allowing them to predict soil type and boundaries. The soil scientists recorded the characteristics of the soils they were mapping, creating soil series and map units.

A soil series is the basic unit of classification given to a group of soils that have similar characteristics. One example is the Wooster series.

A map unit is a unique landscape, typically consisting of one or more major soil series and some minor soil series, with an associated slope — an example being Wooster-Chili complex, 2-6% slopes.

The soil series of one map unit can occur in another, but in a different pattern — for example, the Amanda-Wooster complex, 6-12% slopes. These map units are what appear on the soil survey maps.

In addition to mapping the soil series, soil scientists interpreted data from soil analyses, field-observed characteristics and soil properties to determine the expected behavior of the soils under different uses. They were able to develop suitability and limitation ratings for a wide range of activities. A few include shallow excavation, septic tank adsorption fields, embankments, dikes and levees, and organic matter depletion. These ratings should be consulted in the planning period of any decision, before buying a property, installing a pond or breaking out a pasture into row crops.

This information can be found in a few different locations. The first is the Soil Survey of Holmes County book. This book was published in 1998 and has all the information specifically for Holmes County. Each county has its own Soil Survey book. The other option is Web Soil Survey, a website that has information for the entire country available.

This website gives interpretations and soil maps for the area that is specified. The Holmes SWCD office is available to help navigate through this website if assistance is needed. The Holmes County GIS website also has a layer for the soils map.

A similar and related service our office offers is soil testing. The next step after discovering what soils are present is soil testing. This is important for farm fields, pastures, gardens and lawns. Knowing the fertility levels is important, especially when deciding what to plant or what amendments are needed. Soils and their characteristics play a large role in day-to-day life and decision-making. Make sure you are an informed decision-maker.

We are currently able to use grant dollars from the H2Ohio program to offer two free soil tests from any pasture in Holmes County. To receive the free tests, bring your samples into the office and mention they are from a pasture. If you have any questions about proper soil sampling technique, feel free to call the office at 330-674-2811 ext. 3.

Darby Vaughan is a conservation specialist with Holmes Soil & Water Conservation District.