What type is my soil?
Find your soil type in five minutes, and the plants that will love it
See it in action: three Surbiton roads, three very different soils
Find out what soil sits under your garden and how it affects your lawn, your plants and how well the ground drains. A few quick tests in the garden give you a soil reading and plants that will thrive. You can also see the history we have dug up for your road. About 5 minutes, works on your phone, no sign-up.
How it works
Clay, sand or gravel, the soil under your garden decides whether a lawn stays green or turns to mud, whether plants thrive or sulk, and where water sits after rain. The tool takes what you notice in your garden and two simple tests, and puts them alongside what we have dug up about your road: the farms, orchards, market gardens, brickfields and gravel pits that came before the houses, and the old streams nearby.
- Your roadThe history of the land under the houses, its slope and any streams nearby.
- Your gardenWhat you've noticed, a squeeze test and a drainage test. Tap an answer or Don't know, with tips for after a dry summer.
- Your readingYour soil type, plants that suit it and what to do before you plant.
Also useful
Want us to look at your soil?
A reading is a guide, not a survey. On a free visit we dig, test and tell you what your garden can grow. Kingston, Surbiton, Richmond and Surrey.
This tool was created with AI assistance and reviewed for accuracy by Craig Davis, BSc (Hons) Horticulture. Area geology is a general guide only.
© 2026 Flourish Landscaping (CED Consulting Ltd). This tool, its wording and its data are protected by copyright and database right. Free to use for your own garden; please don't copy it. Terms of use.
Questions about this tool
How does the soil tool work?
It combines what you notice in your garden and two simple tests with what we have found out about your road: the farms, orchards, brickfields and gravel pits that came before the houses, the slope and any streams nearby. It takes about five minutes on your phone, with no sign-up.
Which roads does it cover?
We have mapped flood risk, streams and land history for about 4,000 roads from Kew to Esher. For the geology under roads elsewhere, the free BGS Geology Viewer and Cranfield Soilscapes maps cover the whole country.
Will it tell me my soil pH?
It gives you a soil type rather than an exact pH. Gardens get limed and improved over the years, so a cheap pH testing kit from a garden centre is the surest way to check.
What soil do most gardens around Kingston and Surbiton have?
Most local gardens sit on London Clay. Most garden plants are happy on it once the clay is opened up with organic matter. Our guide to improving clay soil explains how. For three real examples, see three Surbiton roads, three very different soils.
Is the soil tool free?
Yes. It is free to use for your own garden and you don’t need to sign up.
See what the soil reader uncovers. We ran it on three roads with Surbiton postcodes and checked the results against real borehole logs and Victorian maps: solid London Clay, brickearth over flint gravel, and two metres of old rubble on a bombed hilltop. Read the three soil stories.
