Until I added organic matter to my soil, my water bill was huge and I had to fertilize often. In This Article 1. Soil Stuff 2. Soil pH and Nutrients 3. The next smallest particle size is silt.
Rain falling on dry, silty soil has trouble penetrating to the roots.
It tends to run off before soaking in. But because of those smaller particles, once silt is thoroughly saturated, it holds more moisture and nutrients than sand. When it's dry, it shrinks and cracks. In fact, you could make bricks out of the stuff. But, if you wet it, it'll hold lots of water and nutrients.