Reasonable land preparation and artificial vegetation restoration can improve soil conditions and contribute to the growth of vegetation. In the semi-arid Loess Plateau region, a study of soil properties under different vegetation and land preparation strategies is highly significant. This study reveals the interactive mechanisms between land preparation, vegetation, and soil conditions. Methods of soil sampling and laboratory measurements are utilized in this study. In the semi-arid watershed of the Loess Plateau, the physiochemical properties of soil under different land preparations were compared and analyzed. Results indicated that: (1) the nutrient content of the soil of various land preparation and vegetation types had a significant effect on surface aggregation. Surface nutrients were generally 43.1%-86.8% higher than the average content of other nutrients within the 0-1m soil layer. In addition, the total phosphorus and the total potassium content were also enriched and volatile; (2) the soil nutrients under different vegetation types decreased with the order of Caraganakorshinskii,Pinustabulaeformis,Armeniacasibirica and Platycladusorientalis. Due to the differences among plant properties, tree species always had a larger biomass and a higher coverage area, which might support the accumulation of soil nutrients. The effectiveness of land preparation methods were compared in the descending order of: Level bench > Level ditch > Fish Scale Pit > Adverse Grade Tableland. In general, land preparation measures mainly influenced the available nutrients while vegetation restoration affected total nutrients;(3) the usage features of different vegetation types on soil nutrients were also captured. It was found that Caraganakorshinskii and Platycladusorientalis might absorb more potassium and phosphorus, respectively. Moreover, thevertical distribution of organic soil content might consist of a volatile layer, a graded layer and a stabilizing layer.