Acid Soil Plants
Far too much emphasishas been placed in the past on plants which”require” acid soil. Growing in the ArnoldArboretum in Boston, Mass., are over 7000different kinds of woody plants, growing in anacid soil with a pH of 5.5. Themajority of these would grow on a neutral (pH7.o) or even slightly alkaline soil‚Äîonly a v,few might be considered to”require” acid soil to the extent that they wouldnot grow on alkaline soil.
The real question is, how acid? Most plants will tolerate a slightly acid soil but the more acid it becomes (pH below 5.o) the fewer plants willgrow. There comes a point (often about pH4-4.5) where iron becomes unavailable in veryacid soils, and then even plants like azaleasand rhododendrons have trouble and the leavesturn yellow. Lilacs seem todo better in acid soils when ground limestone isadded. Rhododendrons and azaleas do better inneutral soils if an acid fertilizer is applied, andblueberries are one of those specialized cropswhich seem to -require” ammonium sulphate as the fertilizer.
In general then, except for extreme situations, \concentrate on good tilth, the application ofhumus and fertilizer to the soil in the garden anddo not worry no much about slight variationsin soil acidity.
Posted in Gardening Tips, Home and Gardening Ideas | Comments (0)