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Soil pH values
I’m sure you’ve heard mysterious phrases like: “Ooh, you’re so lucky to have acid soil" or “You’ll need alkaline soil to grow those." But what does it all mean?
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Well, in addition to ‘type’, soil has another characteristic called its pH. This is a measurement of whether it is:
- Acid or ‘e°ù¾±³¦²¹³¦±ð´Ç³Ü²õ’ with a pH between 1 and 7, for example peaty soil
- Neutral with pH of exactly 7, for example some clay soils
- Alkaline or ‘limey’ with a pH between 7 and 14, for example chalky soil
With UK soils the pH range is normally between pH 4.0 and 8.5.
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Your soil’s pH level has a huge influence on what plants will grow.
- Most plants prefer a pH of 6.5 to 7 – the point where nutrients are most easily available
- But some are ericaceous - they need acid soil – for example, most rhododendrons
- Or an alkaline soil – for example, saxifrages
Put an acid-loving plant in alkaline soil and it will suffer and die, and vice versa - you’ve been warned!
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