Useful Information


On this page we will give some general gardening advice, totally free, because we want you to enjoy your gardens and with knowledge comes enjoyment.


Let's start with one of the basic principles - acid or alkaline soil?


To grow healthy plants it is vital they have the correct soil conditions and one of these is maintaining the correct balance of acidity or alkalinity depending on the plants to be grown. Alkaline soils are limey or chalky, acid soil is free of chalk or lime.

Some plants such as rhododenrons will only grow well in lime and chalk free soil (i.e. acid) but generally the majority of garden plants prefer a soil that is midway between the two extremes.


Soil test kits are available from garden centres and will indicate your type of soil. It's measured on the pH scale - 7 is neutral (neither acid or alkaline) while lower numbers indicate increasing degrees of acidity and higher numbers show increasing degrees of alkalinity.


A wide range of commonly grown plants, including vegetables, fruit, roses, hardy perennials, trees and shrubs, grow best in a slightly acid to neutral soil of pH 6.5 to 7.0