Purpose
In this particular experiment, I will be collecting soil samples, after which I will perform some tests on the said samples so as to determine the kind or type of soil collected. I will also identify the type of soil at hand in the soil triangle and highlight the best use of this kind of soil.
Project Area
The soil samples came from Wave Hill Public Gardens, approximately 500 meters from Hudson River in Bronx, New York. The area is primarily covered by well-manicured lawns and littered with various species of trees and occasional small flowering trees and plants. Below are the Google map locations and a visual representation of the exact point I sampled.
Figure1: Google Map location of the sampling area
Figure 2: Drawing of the exact sampling point
Vegetation
The landscape of my sampling location predominantly comprised of various species of trees and a wide range of flowering plants, with the ground cover being grass. I was able to identify two tree types namely the Copper Beech and the Bigleaf Magnolia – with the former having massive branches spread over and a relatively smooth bark, and the latter having white flowers and notably large leafs. Some of the flowering plants I was able to identify are the Japanese Snowbell (which is characterized by bell shaped white flowers) and the Flowering Cherry (which has white flowers with attractive pink centers). After identifying the soil type, I will later-on research and describe the kind of vegetation likely to be found/or do well in the identified type of soil.
Problems
I obtained testimonies from three residents of this particular area on whether there have been any problems growing some kinds of plants in the area. On the basis...
It should, however, be noted that no farming activity is conducted in this particular location – with most of the plants and other vegetation being planted for decorative and aesthetic purposes only. It is in this context that the said testimonies were offered. One of the residents pointed out that she has not had any problem growing spinach in her backyard. The other two respondents had planted flowers at home that were doing just fine.
Sampling Method
For this exercise, I made use of the following instruments: one small clear plastic bin, several blank sheets of paper and a pen for taking notes, a retractable steel tape, four small planks of wood sharpened on one end, a shovel, and a camera.
1. On arrival, I first identified an area with clearly observable uniformity in terms of ground cover and soil appearance.
2. I than marked out an area measuring approximately 8 meters by 8 meters and demarcated the area using the four planks of wood.
3. Next, I walked in a zigzag pattern within the selected area and marked out 6 spots from where I would collect the soil samples
4. Using the shovel, I dug out the identified areas for small samples (approximately a cupful)
5. The collected samples were then mixed together in the plastic bin. It should be noted that the collection of the soil samples from the 6 marked points within the demarcated area was done in an attempt to ensure that the average condition of the selected area was adequately represented.
There were no problems incurred in the collection of the sample. A photo of me gathering the soil sample is included below.
Figure…
