Perfect Plants for Acid Soild

To learn how plants that thrive in acid soil fit into their 1 natural environment, explore a natural forest. The same forces that shape and nurture a forest create acid soil. The copious rain that filters through the trees and soaks the ground underneath will leach alkaline minerals such as limestone sediment from the soil, neutralising it. At the same time, the natural mulch of evergreen leaves forms a blanket on the forest floor, along with bark and discarded branches. As this mass of plant matter begins to break down, it contributes acidity to the soil. So, unless a forest happens to be sitting atop a hefty deposit of crumbled limestone, the natural pH of its soil will be in the acid range.

One look at a forest proves that acid soil can support a wide range of plants. Many trees like magnolia and rhus prefer acid soils, as do forest understorey shrubs like azaleas, camellias and gardenias, and low, creeping groundcovers like ferns and ajuga. Indeed, acid soil is very welcome news to these and many other plants. Consequently, if you have neutral to slightly acid soil, growing a woodland-type garden will require little effort on your part, especially if you make the decision to utilise local indigenous species.

Expanding your choices

But not everyone wants a woodland in the garden. If you want to nurture colourful flowers and shrubs that aren’t indigenous to the area, there’s good news. The vast majority of favourite garden plants, from petunias through to roses, tend to prefer soil that is only slightly acid or ‘near neutral’, meaning that it has a pH between 6,2 and 6,8. Fortunately, this is easily achieved by cultivating beds and working in ample compost to neutralise the pH, or by adding garden lime to over-acid soil or adding garden sulphur to alkaline soil, as directed on the package.

Made from crushed limestone, lime is a very simple mineral soil amendment. The preferred type for most gardens is agricultural lime (calcium carbonate) or dolomitic limestone, which enrich the soil with the plant nutrients calcium and magnesium while raising the soil pH. Unlike most fertilisers, lime usually persists in the soil for several years, until repeated rains wash it away. It is unlikely that you will have to lime a bed more than once every3 years or so, but the only way to know forsure is to test your soil’s pH annually,preferably in the autumn.

You can add lime to your soil in any season, but not at the same time as fertiliser, manure or organic matter. Most gardeners lime in either spring or autumn, when they are digging new beds or renovating old ones. Because lime dissolves slowly, it must be thoroughly mixed into the soil. Lime that is simply dusted onto the soil’s surface takes months to benefit plants‘ deep roots. However, this is fine for lawn grass, and it may be your only option when adjusting the pH for roses and other well-established plants.

Dense, heavy clay soils require more lime than their light- textured, sandy counterparts, so there is no set application rate. A little added at a time is best as it not easy to reverse the process. If the soil is still very acid, you can work in more lime the next time you dig the bed. Don’t forget to wear gloves when handling lime, and avoid breathing the dust. In its pure state, lime can dry your skin and irritate lung tissues.

If your soil is alkaline, you can use garden sulphur as a soil acidifier. Also known as wettable sulphur, it is a fine powder consisting mostly of ground-up sulphur rock. Manure and acid mulches, such as chopped leaf litter and pine needles, will also have a mildly acidifying effect on the soil.Your nurseryman will be able to advise on the correct route to follow The effects of these acidifiers are short-lived so you should check the pH each season and make the necessary adjustments as recommended by the test results.

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