Hello all.
I'd love to be able to plant some rhododendrons, but I'm puzzled as to
whether I have 'lime free' soil. Is this the same as acid?
My soil is quite heavy clay, I try to work in compost and sand when I
dig, so it's not too waterlogged, and I was once told by my local
garden centre that our soil locally is 'slightly acid'. Can anyone
help me out with the terminology of lime and acid? Will I need to buy
ericaceous (sp?) compost to plant them? Or am I wasting my time and
should I just get over it and plant something else? Thanks for all
input, I'm a bit stuck here.

Hopefully,
Angel.

"Angel" wrote in message
m...
Hello all.
I'd love to be able to plant some rhododendrons, but I'm puzzled as to
whether I have 'lime free' soil. Is this the same as acid?
My soil is quite heavy clay, I try to work in compost and sand when I
dig, so it's not too waterlogged, and I was once told by my local
garden centre that our soil locally is 'slightly acid'. Can anyone
help me out with the terminology of lime and acid? Will I need to buy
ericaceous (sp?) compost to plant them? Or am I wasting my time and
should I just get over it and plant something else? Thanks for all
input, I'm a bit stuck here.


Best advice is to look in gardens close to yours - can you spot healthy
rhodos or other acid loving plants?

pk

In message , Angel
writes

I'd love to be able to plant some rhododendrons, but I'm puzzled as to
whether I have 'lime free' soil. Is this the same as acid?

an acid soil will be low in lime - adding lime makes the soil more
alkaline and thus less acidic

My soil is quite heavy clay, I try to work in compost and sand when I
dig, so it's not too waterlogged, and I was once told by my local
garden centre that our soil locally is 'slightly acid'. Can anyone
help me out with the terminology of lime and acid?

you could buy a soil testing kit to discover the ph of the soil in your
garden

Will I need to buy
ericaceous (sp?) compost to plant them?

If you really needed to you could, but you would be wasting your money
unless you were planning to create a raised bed. The ph of the
surrounding soil would otherwise just re-establish itself in your
planting area over time.

Or am I wasting my time and
should I just get over it and plant something else? Thanks for all
input, I'm a bit stuck here.

I would give it a go - if the leaves start to turn yellow then treat it
with some sequestered iron (Miracid).

--
dave @ stejonda

Alternative Global News : http://commondreams.org//

Best advice is to look in gardens close to yours - can you spot healthy
rhodos or other acid loving plants?

pk

No, my neighbour has the usual conifers, bulbs and pyracanthas,
nothing interesting at all really. I just have a hankering for some
flowering shrubs. I have a beautiful ceanothus in my front garden,
but the blue flowers are so small. I think I'll take your advice and
buy a soil testing kit and take the opportunity to defrost the freezer
while I'm about it.

I'll let you know what happens.

Thanks.

"Angel" wrote in message m...
Hello all.
I'd love to be able to plant some rhododendrons, but I'm puzzled as to
whether I have 'lime free' soil. Is this the same as acid?
My soil is quite heavy clay, I try to work in compost and sand when I
dig, so it's not too waterlogged, and I was once told by my local
garden centre that our soil locally is 'slightly acid'. Can anyone
help me out with the terminology of lime and acid? Will I need to buy
ericaceous (sp?) compost to plant them? Or am I wasting my time and
should I just get over it and plant something else? Thanks for all
input, I'm a bit stuck here.

Hopefully,
Angel.

Slightly acid is OK and is low on lime. If you see pH mentioned in this context it's a standard measure of
acidity/alkalinity- Logarithmic scale 7 is neutral, lower is acid, higher is alkaline (limey). Since it is logarithmic 5
is 10 x more acid than 6........ etc
A clay will be better for Rhodos etc if you work in plenty of organic stuff - well composted chippings, garden compost,
well rotted manure etcto improve soil structure. Ericaceous compost is gilding the lily a bit but if you can afford it
mixing some in around the plants as you put them in will probably be helpful. Decent drainage and soil texture is
probably more important than pH so long as you're below about 6.5.

Rod

In article , Rod
writes


Slightly acid is OK and is low on lime. If you see pH mentioned in this context
it's a standard measure of
acidity/alkalinity- Logarithmic scale 7 is neutral, lower is acid, higher is
alkaline (limey). Since it is logarithmic 5
is 10 x more acid than 6........ etc
A clay will be better for Rhodos etc if you work in plenty of organic stuff -
well composted chippings, garden compost,
well rotted manure etcto improve soil structure. Ericaceous compost is gilding
the lily a bit but if you can afford it
mixing some in around the plants as you put them in will probably be helpful.
Decent drainage and soil texture is
probably more important than pH so long as you're below about 6.5.

We are over limestone here so we don't normally try to grow
rhododendrons - or we didn't until a totally gardening sceptical
neighbour gave us a sad looking specimen saying, " Here'y'are, this
bloody thing doesn't like me, let's see what you geniuses can do with
it" We bought a 40 litre bag of ericaceous compost, dug a big hole and
set the plant in. It perked up immediately and flowered like mad the
following year - last year. By now the roots must be getting near to our
lime rich soil, so it will be interesting to see what it does this year.
(Yes, I know they are considered to be weeds in some places, but not in
this area.)
--
Alan & Joan Gould - North Lincs.

On Mon, 10 Feb 2003 19:38:51 +0000, Alan Gould
wrote:

In article , Rod
writes


Slightly acid is OK and is low on lime. If you see pH mentioned in this context
it's a standard measure of
acidity/alkalinity- Logarithmic scale 7 is neutral, lower is acid, higher is
alkaline (limey). Since it is logarithmic 5
is 10 x more acid than 6........ etc
A clay will be better for Rhodos etc if you work in plenty of organic stuff -
well composted chippings, garden compost,
well rotted manure etcto improve soil structure. Ericaceous compost is gilding
the lily a bit but if you can afford it
mixing some in around the plants as you put them in will probably be helpful.
Decent drainage and soil texture is
probably more important than pH so long as you're below about 6.5.

We are over limestone here so we don't normally try to grow
rhododendrons - or we didn't until a totally gardening sceptical
neighbour gave us a sad looking specimen saying, " Here'y'are, this
bloody thing doesn't like me, let's see what you geniuses can do with
it" We bought a 40 litre bag of ericaceous compost, dug a big hole and
set the plant in. It perked up immediately and flowered like mad the
following year - last year. By now the roots must be getting near to our
lime rich soil, so it will be interesting to see what it does this year.
(Yes, I know they are considered to be weeds in some places, but not in
this area.)


Our soil isn't suitable either but I am a great fan of them. We dug
down about 2 ft along the edge of a ditch . We then lined the trench
with polythene and filled it with peat moss. (Please don't start on at
me about peat moss, its used around here to make electricity so the
little I used is utterly insignificant) The variety of different
species we planted are all still doing well 10 years later.

Paul Mc Cann