In addition to providing nutrients, a good soil strikes a balance between your plants' needs for water and oxygen. Optimally, your soil should have an equal mix of pore spaces for air and soil particle surface area to retain moisture. In New Jersey, clay soils are typically found in the northern part of the state and sandy soils in the south. Both of these basic soil types can be improved to benefit plant production.
Clay soils are very compact with little aeration.
Often plant roots suffer from oxygen starvation when the small air spaces fill with water. Clay also binds the water up, causing plants to wilt even though the soil is moist. Sandy soils have opposite problems. The soil particles are so large that they do not hold water. Irrigation water is wasted when it percolates down below the root zone and plants have to be watered more often.