Oxymel of Squill wrote:
Why don't you buy a soil testing kit and check the the ph of your
soil in several different places? If you act on the results
bearing
in mind the type of plants youwish to grow in these places that
should take out all the guesswork and old wives tales.

good thought, I should do that. But Much of my garden is under next
door's overhanging pine tree which I'm told makes the soil acid
with
its needles, plus I get lots of moss which also likes acid
conditions

It takes a lot of decayed leaves to turn a soil acid; and conifers'
needles don't decay all that quickly. There are mosses which flourish
on pure limestone, too. But I don't mean your soil _isn't_ acid: it
could be. Most gardens do end up slightly acid, I think.

Does any particular kind of plant not grow well for you, even with
the right aspect etc? Cabbages? Wallflowers? Do summer-flowering
heathers and camellias do well? Are hydrangeas pink (alkaline) or
blue (acid)? I ask because soil-testing kits don't work for
everybody; and in any case if your garden performs right for you,
then there's nothing wrong with the soil: you may only need to lime
the vegetable patch, and that not very often.

Mike.