BEST FOR SILT

Light, fertile and water retaining, silt is often rich and can be a great garden soil, although it’s soft and can easily be compacted by machinery or washed away.

Keep an eye on sun, shade and pH, and the world’s your oyster with a silty soil so experiment and fill gaps with superior veg, fruit, shrubs and flowers. You can still plant seeds for squash such as ‘Crown Prince’, ‘Sweet Dumpling’ or ‘Festival’ – or, if you’re quick, morning glory, and roses are available in containers all year round. Go dotty for dahlias or add height to a border with a pretty crab apple!

Silt can be fertile but may wash away easily Experiment with lots of dahlias

Cram in the quality trees such as crab applies

Plant a rose to cope well with silty soil