Shallow‐drained horticultural soils utilized in containers, sporting areas, and landscape sites tend to retain excess water and thereby be poorly aerated as a consequence of capillary retention following irrigation or precipitation. This problem is usually corrected by soil physical amendment with coarse‐textured particulates to add large pores which drain and provide adequate aeration. A variety of materials are used for soil physical amendment. This study examined the water retention of one of the newer amendments used for this purpose, light expanded clay amendment (LECA), relative to its use in shallow‐drained soils. Although LECA is a porous material, its contribution to soil physical properties when used as an amendment were found to be similar to non‐porous amendments such as river sand or gravel because the internal water is not readily available for plant use.