Although the distribution of vegetation growth is largely determined by soil moisture availability, what determines the use of soil water at different depths by vegetation still requires investigation. Here, we used remote sensing proxy of global vegetation growth and soil moisture data to link gridded layered soil water use patterns with climate aridity, soil texture, root depth and soil water distribution characteristics. We found no significant differences in the soil water use patterns between the climate subtypes. Soil texture can explain the divergence in soil water dependence between the surface and subsurface soil layers by regulating both the layered soil water distribution and root water uptake depth. However, the controlling effect of a coarser soil texture to enhance deepwater uptake is limited in water-limited regions. A structural equation model reveals the mechanisms of vegetation growth dependence on surface and subsurface soil moisture globally. Layered soil water distribution regulated by soil texture can determine whether vegetation water stress is mostly dominated by the variation in surface or subsurface soil moisture supply across climates, and this effect peaks in global semiarid regions. Our results suggested that soil characteristics, rather than climate aridity, dominantly regulate global soil water use for vegetation growth, which is crucial for understanding the occurrence of ecological drought as a new circumstance in simulations of global change.