Sour power
Acidic soil no longer means wall-to-wall heathers and rhododendrons, writes David Overend.
What do you do when you move to a new house and discover that the soil in the garden is acidic? What plants can you grow and how do you grow them? Years ago, the answer was simple – if your garden had acidic soil, you grew heathers, rhododendrons and a few other odds and sods.
Your world of plants was very limited; camellias were a bit too posh for many people, while pieris hadn’t yet made an impact as a cheap and very cheerful shrub that thrives in acidic soil, although there is something Christmassy about it.
Perhaps it’s the shape and the colour that makes it an ideal candidate for a late-December flowering. But it waits until spring to produce bell-shaped white flowers, followed by new leaf growth which starts off vivid red before calming to pink, cream and, finally, green.
Add it to wonderful floriferous azaleas, and perhaps the stupendously colourful Fothergilla major, whose leaves light up the autumn, a whole host of Japanese lilies which adore acidic soil, and, of course, Japanese maples and heathers, and your garden should be pretty complete – and full of foliage and flowers.
So it could be a struggle to accommodate a magnolia or a dogwood and one of those stunning camellias, now no longer considered a shrub.
Camellias are easy to cultivate, but they thrive best where the summers are warm and the winters are cold. They also love moist but well-drained, slightly acidic soil. Waterlogging is a killer. When you have to water, use rainwater; tap water is usually alkaline and will turn a camellia’s leaves yellow. Then they’ll drop off.
They do best in sheltered positions in light shade or where they get only morning sun. The plants will tolerate exposed sunny sites but the flowers won’t. Too dense shade will promote lank growth and reduce flowering. Too sunny, and the flowers will burn and drop prematurely. A site that is exposed to strong winds is definitely not recommended.
And, finally, a few well-positioned heathers; choose several varieties and you could have blooms throughout the year.
And if your garden soil isn’t acidic but you want to grow acid-loving plants, pop them in containers filled with the appropriate growing medium. They will, of course, need regular fertilising and watering to keep them happy and healthy.