The objective of this study was to reveal the effect of different vegetation patterns on the soil water characteristic and its temporal stability in opencast coal mine dump. Three vegetation patterns including Astrgalus adsurgens grassland, alfalfa grassland and seabuckthorn shrubland were selected, and grassland in original landform was used as control. The results showed that the average soil water content under three kinds of artificial vegetation increased by 50.7%~62.3%, compared with the grassland in original landform. The soil water deficit in the deep layer (120—260 and 120—220 cm) was observed in astrgalus adsurgens grassland and alfalfa, while higher soil water content was observed in 20-80 cm. In seabuckthorn shrubland, soil water deficit was observed in the shallow layer (20—80 cm), while higher water content was detected in the deep layer (100—280 cm). These results showed that the soil reconfiguration can improve the soil moisture condition in the reclamation of the waste site, and the selection of alfalfa and sea-buckthorn is more conducive to the alleviation of soil moisture deficiency in vegetation reconstruction.