Plants for Acid and Alkaline Soils

Unless you are one of the fortunate few who was blessed with (or you have struggled to achieve!) the perfect slightly acid to neutral soil pH (6.5-7.0), you are having to learn to live with either acid or alkaline soil. Learning to live with it can mean either taking measures to adjust the pH or selecting a plant that is suited to your soil pH. Soil can be tested at the University of Minnesota or many other independent soil testing laboratories. There is also a home test kit for pH. Be sure to use distilled water with the home test so tap water won't skew your results. And keep in mind that soil pH can change from year to year. Much of the water provided by both city water systems and wells in our area is alkaline. That can affect soil pH. As some plant materials such as peat moss or pine needles break down, they naturally acidify the soil too. This means your soil pH can vary from season to season and it may vary from site to site in your yard.

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