Photo courtesy of aledue at Flickr.com.
It’s possible to get a rough-and-ready estimate of the soil pH of a piece of land by observing the vegetation that grows on it. Foxgloves, moss, bracken fern, sorrel, pine trees (especially Scots pine), birch, rhododendron, blueberry, and azalea all thrive in acidic soils, and for this reason are called “calcifuge” plants. Ash, honeysuckle, Buddleia (butterfly bush and its relatives), lilac, and clematis are “calcicole” plants, preferring alkaline soils. Here’s a handy litmus test: plant a hydrangea in the suspect soil, and keep an eye on the flowers. If the pH is below about 6.0, the flowers will be blue; if it’s above 6.8, they’ll be pink.
Photo courtesy of undeniablytina at Flickr.com.
