Long Beach Neighborhoods We Serve
Long Beach has at least ten kinds of ground, from dredged fill on the Shore to heavy clay near Signal Hill, and your yard plan should start with yours.
- Low Flats Flat ground that drains slowly
- Terrace Loam The easiest soil in town
- Sandy Loam Flats Sandy and slow to drain
- Heavy Clay Sticky clay on gentle slopes
- River Sand Sandy river deposits
- Dredged Fill Man made ground, salty in spots
- Graded Fill Soil moved around by people
- Silty Clay Tight silty clay
- Mapped As Urban Mostly built over on the soil map
- Beach Sand Almost pure sand
Low Flats
USDA maps this as Biscailuz and drained Hueneme soils, about 15 to 20 percent clay and rated somewhat poorly drained.
- Atherton South
- Bay Shore
- College Park Estates
- College Square
- Collins
- Coolidge Triangle
- Del Lago
- Dorado
- El Dorado Lakes
- El Dorado Park Estates
- El Dorado Park South
- El Dorado West
- Imperial Estates
- La Marina Estates
- Lakewood Village
- Longwood
- Los Altos North
- Los Altos South
- Plaza
- Rancho Estates
- Stoney Brook
- Traffic Circle
- University Park Estates
Terrace Loam
USDA maps this as Windfetch and Typic Haploxerolls, well drained loam with about 10 to 18 percent clay.
Sandy Loam Flats
USDA maps this as Hueneme and San Emigdio soils, about 61 to 65 percent sand. Hueneme rates somewhat poorly drained, even with all that sand.
Heavy Clay
USDA maps this as Thums and Windfetch soils. Thums tops out near 31 percent clay in the surface layer and is a shrink and swell clay.
River Sand
USDA maps this as Metz and Pico soils, laid down by rivers. Metz runs about 80 percent sand.
Dredged Fill
This ground was built up from dredged material. USDA maps it as a dredged spoil complex.
Graded Fill
USDA maps this as Typic Xerorthents, a type marked as moved by people, over Typic Haploxeralfs. Both run about 6 to 10 percent clay and drain well.
Silty Clay
USDA maps this as Bolsa silty clay loam, about 30 percent clay and only 7 percent sand.
Mapped As Urban
USDA maps this mostly as urban land, which means paved or built on with no soil details on file.
Beach Sand
USDA maps this as Abaft sand, about 93 percent sand and under 2 percent clay.