What type is my soil?

Find your soil type in five minutes, and the plants that will love it

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

Improving clay soilHow to work with the London Clay under most local gardens. Garden sun plannerSee where sun and shade fall in your garden through the year. Palette plannerTurn the colours you love into plants that suit your light.

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.

Book a free visit

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.