"Kay" wrote in message
...
In article .com, La
puce writes

cineman wrote:
My advice would be not to put ivy shreddings straight onto your bed as
even
a small piece of stem can throw off roots , and as i said before you
would
have the perfect groundcover. Keep in black plastic bags under a bush
or
hedge for a few weeks just to start the rotting process.

What about holly?! I'm having my holly tree professionaly pruned. I was
offered the shreddings as they bring a machine with them. I accepted
thinking it would be a fabulous mulch but now I'm wondering if it's not
too acid? Maybe only for the paths ... but even though, am I making a
mistake?

Please can someone with botanical and chemical knowledge explain this
thing about leaves being acid? I know that peat bogs are acid, but could
someone please explain the process by which pine needles. holly etc
render the soil acid?
--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

I do not think they make the soil acid, (I thought all soils are acid unless
there is some limestone or chalk around to make them alkaline, so soils on
volcanic islands would be acid and counties like Cornwall are largely acid
due to lack of limestone or chalk) but rather if you create soil humus with
vegetable matter it is bound to be acid, so if you dilute your soil with it,
the effect is of lowering ph. I would have thought on strongly alkaline
soils the effect would be small but it may tip the balance on neutral soils.
I too shall be interested in the deliberations of the more scientific among
us. But I do know that attempting to lower ph on alkaline soils in order to
grow say Rhodos is pretty much a waste of time and effort so making soil
acid must be quite hard.

--
Charlie, gardening in Cornwall.
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of National Plant Collection of Clematis viticella (cvs)