[Objective]To curb the trend of soil degradation and improve ecological environment quality, large-scale and long-term vegetation restoration projects have been carried out in the Loess Plateau region. However, the long-term variations in soil volumetric water under typical vegetation restoration types, especially the variability and differences in soil moisture, have not been given in-depth attention. [Method]Therefore, this study selected typical artificial forests (Pinus tabuliformis, Platycladus orientalis, Robinia pseudoacacia) and natural forests (Quercus mongolica secondary forest) in the Loess Plateau remnant gully area as the subject focus. Based on a long-term sequence (2006—2025) of 0~200 cm soil volumetric water dynamics, combined with multi-phase soil physicochemical properties and vegetation growth attribute data, this study used one-way analysis of variance, principal component analysis, and Mantel test to explore the effects of soil physicochemical properties and vegetation growth parameters on the soil hydrological dynamics in long-term vegetation restoration. [Result]The results show that: (1) Significant soil moisture differences exist between vegetation restoration types: compared to artificial forests, the natural forest has a higher overall soil volumetric water content, with an average of 16.8% and a peak of 30.4%, and greater moisture stability, with an average coefficient of variation of 12.89%; (2) Significant differences exist in soil physicochemical properties and vegetation attributes among different vegetation restoration types. The natural forest has higher nitrogen (236.428 mg·kg-1), phosphorus (488.575 mg·kg-1), and organic carbon content (14.903 g·kg-1) than the three artificial forests. The biomass and height of the tree and shrub layers are lower in the natural forest than in the artificial forests; (3) Principal component analysis and Mantel test analysis show that soil moisture differences are mainly influenced by both tree and understory vegetation attributes, while soil moisture variability is predominantly influenced by understory vegetation attributes. [Conclusion]This study can provide a theoretical basis for the conservation of natural forests in the region, the optimization of understory vegetation in plantations, the enhancement of water conservation capacity through the cultivation of understory vegetation, and the management of soil and water conservation.