Tim Matcham Garden Design

A recent posting on the Garden Network was asking about the importance of testing the pH of your soil.

Why is the pH of soil so important?

There are a number of factors that affect what you can grow in your soil, the type of soil that you have, clay, loam or sand generally has an impact on the nutrients that are available to the plants that you grow. The small particles of clay soil are great at retaining nutrients but can often be difficult for plants to actually send roots in to – never mind the effort required in digging heavy clay!

Soil type however is only part of the story. Some plants will only survive if the pH of the soil is right for them. Nutrients are most readily available to most plants in the neutral range of the pH scale and therefore can be grown in most situations. Some plants however need the right pH in order to be able to access the nutrients that they need.

The acid loving or ericaceous plants such as Rhododendrons, Azaleas, Pieris and Camellia need acid soil in order to survive, without it the roots fur up in much the same way a kettle furs up in hard water meaning the plant cannot absorb the nutrients it needs.

Similarly some plants need an alkaline or chalky soil to thrive such as Lilac (Syringa) and Mock orange (Philadelphus).

You can get simple soil test kits from most garden centres and the RHS offers a comprehensive soil testing service.

The benefit of knowing what your soil pH is comes when you see plants thriving in your garden rather than constantly returning to the garden centre to replace those expensive plants that have mysteriously only lasted a few months!

If you particularly want to grow plants that are not suited to your soil type consider raised beds filled with appropriate soil or grow in containers.

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