UTAH'S TOPSOIL:

Much of the Wasatch front is a clay or sandy base. Clay blocks or holds moister and water rushes through sand, both in the extreme.

The ideal mixture of topsoil is approximately these percentages. (60 % sand - 10 % clay - 25 % silt - 5% organic matter) This is considered a Sandy Loam composition. Organic matter or humus is critical to hold water.

Most of the land-based biological activity of the Earth takes place here, in the decaying humus in topsoil in the first 4 inches of soil.