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24 November 2009
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how to be a gardener - The complete online guide

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Know your plot

Assessing your plot

Analysing your soil

  Soil types

  Soil ph

Drawing a survey

Test your knowledge

Go further

Plant lists

Interactives

Glossary

Credits

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Module 1

Module 2

Module 3

Module 4

Module 5

Module 6

Module 7

Module 8

1 - Analysing your soil

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Doing a pH test
©   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?

Well, in addition to ‘type’, soil has another characteristic called its pH . This is a measurement of whether it is:

• Acid or ‘ericaceous’ 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

• 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

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1. Know your plot

Introduction
Assessing your plot
Analysing your soil
  Soil types
  Soil ph
Drawing a survey
Test your knowledge
Go further

Highlights

Plant lists

Plant lists

Plants for different soil types:

• Plants for acid soil
• Plants for alkaline Soil

Video

Video

Soil, what's it all about?

• The origins of soil
• Organic manure

Interactive

Interactive
Test your knowledge of planting in different lighting conditions . Or find out how to test your soil .
(External) Requires Flash 5


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