Yeah, it won’t let me select an area.
In Arizona that’s known as caliche. Either plan on moving to plan B or get hold of some power equipment to break it up and remove it.
For a new residence I recommend limited use of power equipment. Like a Bobcat.For a little garden I recommend a raised bed. Or a power post hole digger. I don’t have a problem with the jack hammer option.
Now that’s interesting. Mine says Houston Clay(which I figured, it’s gumbo)but I would have never labeled it as moderately well drained.
Kaufman and Rockwall Counties, Texas
HoB—Houston Black clay, 1 to 3 percent slopes
Map Unit Setting
- National map unit symbol: 2ssh0
- Elevation: 270 to 1,040 feet
- Mean annual precipitation: 33 to 43 inches
- Mean annual air temperature: 62 to 63 degrees F
- Frost-free period: 217 to 244 days
- Farmland classification: All areas are prime farmland
Map Unit Composition
-
Houston black and similar soils: 80 percent
-
Minor components: 20 percent
-
Estimates are based on observations, descriptions, and transects of the mapunit.
Description of Houston Black
Setting
- Landform: Ridges
- Landform position (two-dimensional): Summit, shoulder
- Landform position (three-dimensional): Interfluve
- Microfeatures of landform position: Linear gilgai
- Down-slope shape: Convex, linear
- Across-slope shape: Convex, linear
- Parent material: Clayey residuum weathered from calcareous mudstone of upper cretaceous age
Typical profile
- Ap - 0 to 6 inches: clay
- Bkss - 6 to 70 inches: clay
- BCkss - 70 to 80 inches: clay
Properties and qualities
- Slope: 1 to 3 percent
- Depth to restrictive feature: More than 80 inches
- Natural drainage class: Moderately well drained
- Runoff class: Very high
- Capacity of the most limiting layer to transmit water (Ksat): Very low to moderately low (0.00 to 0.06 in/hr)
- Depth to water table: More than 80 inches
- Frequency of flooding: None
- Frequency of ponding: None
- Calcium carbonate, maximum in profile: 35 percent
- Gypsum, maximum in profile: 5 percent
- Salinity, maximum in profile: Nonsaline to very slightly saline (0.0 to 2.0 mmhos/cm)
- Sodium adsorption ratio, maximum in profile: 2.0
- Available water storage in profile: High (about 9.6 inches)
Interpretive groups
- Land capability classification (irrigated): None specified
- Land capability classification (nonirrigated): 2e
- Hydrologic Soil Group: D
- Ecological site: Southern Blackland (R086AY011TX)
- Hydric soil rating: No
Minor Components
Heiden
- Percent of map unit: 15 percent
- Landform: Plains
- Microfeatures of landform position: Linear gilgai
- Down-slope shape: Linear
- Across-slope shape: Convex
- Ecological site: Southern Blackland (R086AY011TX)
- Hydric soil rating: No
Fairlie
- Percent of map unit: 5 percent
- Landform: Ridges
- Landform position (two-dimensional): Toeslope, footslope
- Landform position (three-dimensional): Base slope
- Down-slope shape: Linear
- Across-slope shape: Convex
- Ecological site: Southern Blackland (R086AY011TX)
- Hydric soil rating: No
Does 20% minor components mean that Heiden and Fairlie soils are there in the map area somewhere? This has me confused.
I believe that means that those two soils occur in units marked as Houston Black clay. Most soils are highly variable. And much of the mapping is done simply by looking at the landscape and by experience. They don’t take the detailed samples that would be necessary to map everything exact or as closely as possible.
1 Like
The detailed description for the Houston Black series indicates that permeability is very slow.
A pdf of the Field Book for Describing and Sampling Soils and google searches might help to decode the ratings.
Moderately Well Drained—Water is removed from the soil somewhat slowly during some periods of the year. Internal free water commonly is moderately deep and may be transitory or permanent. The soil is wet for only a short time within the rooting depth during the growing season but is wet long enough that most mesophytic crops are affected. The soil commonly has a moderately low or lower saturated hydraulic conductivity class within 1 meter of the surface, periodically receives high rainfall, or both.