Do conifers damage the soil for other plants?

My daughter is trying to get a neglected garden under control. The whole area was planted with numerous conifer trees many of which she has had removed to clear space for planting.

The conifers have been shedding into the soil for over ten years. Would this soil now be poisonous to new planting?
If so - what would she have to do for recovery of the topsoil so that she can plant new beds?

Thanks in anticipation of any advice - it - would help so much.

 

The pine needles tend to make the soil more acidic. If you have acid soil anyway it may be too acidic for other plants - do Rhododendrons, Azaleas, Camellias grown in the area?

Probably best to get a soil testing kit and check the pH. Should be relatively easier to make the soil more Alkaline by adding Lime, but I don't know if there will be a problem other than that.

 

In addition to changing the acidity, they also take a lot of moisture from the ground, and being quite dense in the foliage, they block a lot of sunshine.

 

It is easier to plant acid loving plants n acidic soil than trying to remedy the situation continuously I have found. I fought for a long time under and around my conifers and just wanted something to thrive instead of just managing. Why go to all that effort when there are some beauties that will do well. So now it's rhoddies, and the like and I need do very little other than deadheading them.

 

"It is easier to plant acid loving plants n acidic soil than trying to remedy the situation continuously I have found."

No kidding! I refuse to have anything acid-loving anywhere near my garden.

My Mother had Camellias in tubs, Azaleas and Pieris and the like in the ground, complex rituals of making raised and/or lined peat-enriched beds, watering with Murphy's Sequestered Iron ... nightmare! And they always looked sickly and yellow, and performed sub-prime :D

 

Thanks to all the advice above. I shall cerainly advise her to test the soil. However, I think I agree with you Kirsten, I have always had trouble with acid loving plants too and never got much joy from them - except azaleas in tubs.

 

hello letty - I'm a beginner too so little advice. I just wanted to say... you have the same name as me!!! :-)