Why does the Street Tree Selector ask for the soil texture at my site?
A. The soil texture influences the amount of water a soil can hold, soil drainage properties, and how soil responds when compacted. Soil texture is the proportions of sand, silt, and clay in a soil and can be determined during a site analysis. The Street Tree Selector uses this information to exclude certain trees that will not grow well in your soil. In addition the Street Tree Selector indicates (via a mouse rollover) the bulk density of a particular soil at each of the compaction levels to help you diagnose the compaction level of your soil. For example, if you measured the bulk density of your soil to be 1.4 g/cm3, this would be a compacted soil if it were a clay loam, and an uncompacted soil if it were a sand. Your choice of soil texture will have only a small effect on trees selected—so if in doubt, just choose “any soil texture.
