Types of Soil in the US

I am wondering if anyone knows of a list or database that would describe the types of soils found by region in the US. I live in the Atlanta Georgia area and would like to know as much about the soil as I can without having to buy testing equipment. Thank you.

LIJ2,

don't know if this will help or not, but if this site doesn't, just get in touch with the NRCS. My daughter digitizes soil maps for the State of Missouri for the NRCS.
The NRCS has great stuff.
http://soils.usda.gov/survey/online_surveys/georgia/

Wow, thanks. That was exactly what I was looking for. Now I just have to wait for them to put my county online.

LIJ2, You might want to ask the NRCS about doing some soil testing for you as well. These people live and breathe talking about soil.

L, you don't have to wait until they put your county online. Most of the county extension offices have the soil maps of the county and are quite willing to show you your piece of land on it.

this url is filled with info http://www.agiweb.org/ies/soil.html hope the site help U.

here is another one on how to improve soil http://www.english-gardening.com/green_up_your_thumb/soil_types.htm

I followed the first link and then backtraced to find my own county's soil maps (Kitsap County, WA) and was amazed at the detail provided. My three acre property was divided into 4 separate zones with different soil types.

Unfortunately, my fears were fully realized when I found the official designation for the lower two acres: "muck". Now there's a soil type you don't hear a lot about on the gardening sites!

So if my math calculations be correct, 2/3's of your estate is "muck".
I would be very interested in what is growing there.

Actually, part of my property is considered a wetlands. (just trying to fit in - as always). The wildlife is just the greatest!

I don't watch much tv or movies, but remember the movie Milk Money? The guy was trying to save the wetlands area? He ended up with saving the wetlands and getting Melanie Griffith.

About this muck--think peat, but with slightly smaller particles, going down more than six feet in all areas. It is soggy for five months out of the year (winter rainy season), and the ground is moist year round if you turn over a shovel-full or two of dirt.

That part of my property might best be described as "disturbed wetlands". It was completely cleared, along with much of the valley around me, for ranching and farming. Then, about 40 years ago, when the area was divided up into separate properties it was left to "go wild". Predictably, it filled up with a monoculture of the most aggressive plants and these tended to choke everything else out. Given another 1000 years, I'm told, it might even diversify into the partial wetlands it once was... These things are a very delicate balance. There are experimental projects along other parts of the valley to "create" wetlands.

Of course, everyone around me is using their land for pasture, and the waterways have all been radically altered. Given enough time, I'll probably clear most of it, leaving the stately cedars and their unstory and removing the invasive non-native brush and unstable red alder (which shoots up quickly in the spring, shading out other plants, and then falls over in the winter wet). The salmonberries, skunk cabbage, and epiphytic ferns are nice.