Loam is a type of rich fertile soil consisting of a mixture of sand, gravel silt and organic matter. It has an intermediate type of texture between sand and clay. Loams are generally plastic especially when they are moist, have a gritty nature, retain water easily and drain water very easily as well according to the topographical features of a particular place. Loam, generally as a term, has many a times been used imprecisely to mean soil or even earth. Loam, when in subsoil, receives a variety of minerals and particles of clay by the leaching or percolation of the topmost soil. Loam as a soil is ideally used for gardening purposes as they are effective in retaining moisture and nutrients and are very easy to till.
