Simplified explanation coming up: loam is soil - and very good soil at that. It's a ratio of various components - John Innes potting composts are loam based, so are better for shrubs in pots than your average multi purpose, which have no loam content at all. Humus (as opposed to humous or hummus, meaning the chick pea dip) refers to rotted down matter - things like garden compost, soil conditioning compost from the garden centre, composted manures, leaf mould, spent mushroom compost. All these are humus rich, and added to the soil, will naturally increase the humus levels in the ground, thus improving bio diversity of microbes and various other organisms in the soil, making it a healthier and richer place to be for plants.

Not a daft question either - I suspect lots of people aren't sure about these things. I remember 30 years ago being unclear about compost - sometimes it appears to mean compost heap, and sometimes it appears to mean something you grow plants in. The clue's in the terminology - potting compost is what you grow plants in, its sterile, and garden compost, or soil conditioning compost, are for putting on the soil, not in pots. So we all had to learn what's what initially...

Interesting question Lemondrop. Can I ask - when you say loam is good soil Bamboo where does that loam come from? Is it all made nowadays or are there still areas of it?

Oh blimey, I just knew someone would ask for more detail, lol! I've forgotten, frankly - I'd have to dig out my Soil and Soil Profiles tome (and I'm not joking, it is a proper tome), which does have that info somewhere, but I don't have time tonight. Off the top of my head, its a roughly equal mix of sand, clay, silt and organic matter, and is usually found in arable fields around the world, although the organic matter can easily become depleted if not replenished.

Thanks Bamboo

Thanks Bamboo, i knew i'd get a well detailed explanation on GOY !

And loam is what most of us are trying to turn our garden soils into!

all questions are hard till you know the answer and everyone has to start somewear so ask away .

I know NP, if you don't ask you won't know, i'm glad i did! Thank you all

So am I Lemondrop, For 14 years I have piled humus in to my clay aiming to get a decent loam (a battle I cannot win) but its one of those words you sort of know! but dont when it comes to it. I do find looking at these question can be a real learning curve.

Yes Drc726 you learn a lot on GOY... I'm still learning !

I am to and I think its why I still enjoy gardening LD.

you learn for ever the whole of life is a learning curve .

I'm still learning too - even just keeping up with latest info and developments is interesting.

Indeed NP I sometimes wish my daughter knew now what I now know.
I like to read about gardening even if I dont follow their reasoning sometimes. Sadly I think the internet is becoming full of misinformation on plants and gardening, and it seems increasingly difficult to know what to trust? Bamboo.

If in doubt, the RHS site is probably the most accurate, if you can find the info you require there. Also, it pays to look at more than one site for information on something - the variation between, for instance, height and spread can be quite startling for the same plant, depending on the site, specially if its a place selling the plant. I think generally that sellers can't be fully trusted to be entirely truthful.

I belong to the RHS and find it very useful - sometimes! Yes I have learnt to look up more than one source if I dont know it. They are not truthful about the invasiveness of some plants as often its just not mentioned.

thats worth knowing thanx bamboo x .