Do you know your soil type?

Good site John, it says......Freely draining lime-rich loamy soils

Its talking about the brown stuff inbetween the flints?

 

Apparently mine is "Freely draining slightly acid loamy soils" which would be fantastic! I'm a bit confused though, I tried testing with vinegar and it did seem to fizz, making me think it is alkaline. I have a probe now though and that does also say slightly acidic. Which would be amazing news, because I can plant out my Cornus Kousa chinensis!

 

If it is a cheap one? they tend to be unreliable, and I would recommend getting a cheap Test Tube kit and double checking with that before buying an expensive plant ...

Cornus Kousa chinensis is lovely I have a couple of Cornus that need acid soil ... mine are in containers with is a faff

 

It was about £15. I did use a PH test tube kit and it looked green / light green. I've just joined the RHS, so I might take them up on their soil testing to be completely sure.

 

says mine is Slowly permeable seasonally wet slightly acid but base-rich loamy and clayey

 

I think their test report will tell you about macro nutrients too, which is handy-to-have at least once when acquiring a new garden

https://www.rhs.org.uk/membership/rhs-gardening-advice/soil-analysis

 

I used one of those test meters, which told me my soil was very acidic, maybe 5.5? After a while it was obvious though that this wasn't the case. I'd previously tested with a test kit, which was inconclusive, so I had to rely on the meter. I happened on a decent test kit which told me my soil was indeed quite alkaline, at least 8.0. Quite a difference!

 

Blimey, this thread is a bit of a blast from the past

 

Nah, you'm thinking of a dinosaur fart

 

Not something i've ever thought about but I bet it was spelt WHOOM

 

"Life - No-one gets out of it alive" I'm the exception

 

Sign of the times I'm afraid, can't trust anyone