It is important to test your soil before planting to ensure that you select plants that are suited to the soil. Neutral pH is considered to be between 6. There are many plants, ranging from trees to shrubs to flowers, that are most at home in either acidic or alkaline soil.
There are many plants that will tolerate and thrive in slightly acidic soil, including fir, pine, spruce and magnolia trees. Shrubs that do well in acidic soil include blueberries, hydrangeas and dogwood, and perennials that thrive in acidic soil include butterfly weed and most varieties of ferns. Excellent ornamental plants, they offer a jolt of color with their long, brush-like flowers that bloom from spring to summer, and sometimes will offer a second bloom in the fall. Depending upon the variety, flower colors are red, pink, purple and yellow.
The callistemon thrives in moist, slightly acid soil in full sun. Also known as spider flower, this member of the protea family is a popular Australian garden plant. Grevillea, a small tree or shrub, shows a lot of variability throughout its more than species. Another benefit of fall testing is that fertilizer prices are more likely to be discounted during that season. Many plants do well in acidic, slightly acidic, neutral, near neutral soils, alkaline soils; in other words, they will grow fairly well in some to all ranges as long as they are not extreme.
Some plants prefer a highly acidic soil. Soil is more likely alkaline due to the limestone parent material when soils were formed. If the pH of your soil is greater than 7. Wood ash will raise the soil pH and make the soil more alkaline. If you are looking for a list of acid-loving plants, check out my list of 75 Acid Loving Plants!
Below is a list of alkaline friendly plants you can grow in alkaline soil. All of these plants listed below have some alkaline soil level requirements.
Some love alkaline soil more than others — they range from liking slightly alkaline soil to loving very alkaline soil. It was interesting to me how many vegetables went on this list, and how few flowers or fruits.
Other garden fruits and vegetables also tolerate soil with a low pH. These include celery, strawberries, castor beans, dandelion, garlic, chili peppers, shallots, and hops. Related Post: Growing Shallots. Evergreens and many deciduous trees including beech, willow, oak, dogwood, mountain ash, and magnolias also prefer acidic soil.
A few popular acid-loving plants include azaleas, mountain heather, rhododendrons, hydrangeas, camellias, daffodils, blueberries, and nasturtiums. When cultivated in acidic soil these hardy plants brighten the garden with verdant greenery and a glorious display of spring and summer color. If soil pH is balanced, blooms will be robust and firm. Soils reaction, or soil pH , indicates the alkalinity or acidity of the soil, measured in pH units.
The pH scale has a range of Here is the breakdown:. As an example, lemon is extremely acidic with a pH of 2. Human saliva is considered neutral with a pH of 6. Salt water is highly alkaline with a pH of 8. You have to keep in mind that a variance in pH by as little as one point reflects a radical shift.
Soil with pH 5 is as much as ten times more acidic than soil testing at a pH of 6. To complicate things further, soil with a pH of 5, is up to times more acidic than that of soil testing with a pH of 7.
Across the United States, soil pH levels vary widely. Soil pH can also vary significantly across a sizeable rural homestead or a small urban plot of land.
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