How to read a New Jersey soil name
A property page on NJ Property Maps prints the soil name from the state soil map. That name is several words put together. Each word means one thing. Read them in order and you have the type of ground the map drew for that spot. It is not a hole dug in the yard.
Put the words together
Birdsboro loam, 6 to 12 percent slopes, eroded.
Birdsboro is the soil’s name. Loam is what it is made of. Six to 12 percent slopes is how steep it is. Eroded is what has happened to the topsoil.
Together, the map is saying: this spot is Birdsboro soil, a mix of sand, silt, and clay, on a slope of about 6 to 12 feet of rise for every 100 feet across, and some of the topsoil has washed away.
A different address gets a different string of words. The same word means the same thing wherever it shows up.
The soil’s name
The first word is the series name. Birdsboro, Freehold, and Boonton are series names. A series is a named kind of soil. The name is not a score, not a brand, and not a judgment of the house.
Some names have more than one series. Complex means two or more soils are mixed in that mapped area. The names before “complex” are those soils.
Urban land means the ground has been built on or filled, so the natural soil is covered or mixed. “Urban land - Dunellen complex” means built-over ground mixed with Dunellen soil.
What it is made of
Loam is a mix of sand, silt, and clay. Silt loam has more silt and feels smooth. Sandy loam and fine sandy loam have more sand. Sand and loamy sand are mostly sand, so water runs through them quickly. Clay is the stickier, finer material. Muck and peat are wet soils made mostly of decayed plants.
A word in front of those can say stones are mixed in. Gravelly means gravel. Channery means flat stones. Cobbly means larger rounded stones. Very gravelly means more of that stone than “gravelly” alone.
Substratum means a layer underneath. The word in front of it says what that layer is. “Clayey substratum” means clay underneath. “Sulfidic substratum” means a layer that can turn acidic if it is dug up and exposed to air.
How steep
A percent slope is feet of rise for every 100 feet across. A 6 to 12 percent slope rises about 6 to 12 feet over that distance.
Zero to 3 percent is nearly level. About 3 to 8 percent is gently sloping. About 8 to 15 percent is sloping. About 15 to 25 percent is moderately steep. Steeper than that is steep. These are descriptions of the mapped ground. They are not a ranking of properties.
The other words
Eroded means the map says some topsoil on this soil type has washed away. Severely eroded means more of that topsoil is gone.
Frequently flooded means this kind of ground floods often. Occasionally flooded means from time to time. Rarely flooded means not often. Those are the soil map’s words. They are not the FEMA flood zone on the property page. Ponded means water stands on this kind of ground.
Stony, very stony, and extremely stony mean stones in the soil, from some to a lot. Rocky and very rocky mean rock. Bouldery means boulders. Rubbly means broken rock.
Moderately wet means the map marks this soil type as wetter than the dry version of the same soil. Words such as well drained, poorly drained, or very poorly drained say how fast water leaves the soil. Poorly drained ground stays wet.
What the name is not
The name is the soil type drawn on the state map for that spot. Nobody dug a hole in the yard. A flood word in the soil name is not a second flood zone. The dot used for the map can land in the street instead of the middle of the yard.