by Leslie Cox; Friday; April 14, 2017

Most plants will do okay in most soil pH ranges…acidic, neutral, alkaline. However, soil pH does have an impact on how well a plant is able to access necessary nutrients in the soil for its optimum health. Therefore, it is advisable to provide each plant in your garden with its preferred planting conditions. Here in the Pacific Northwest, this means alkaline-loving plants need to have the soil boosted up to at least a pH 6.5…or even higher. Applying wood ashes or scratching some lime into the soil at the drip line will certainly help raise the pH for these plants.

The following list will show which trees and shrubs in your garden would like some specialized treatment.

Latin name	Common name	pH range
Acacia spp	acacia; wattle	6.0 – 8.0
Acer negundo	boxelder maple	6.0 – 8.0
Acer saccharum	sugar maple	6.0 – 7.5
Berberis spp	barberry	6.75 – 7.5
Buddleja spp	butterfly bush	6.75
Buxus spp	boxwood	6.75
Carya illinoinensis	pecan	6.4 – 8.0
Citrus limon	lemon	6.0 – 7.5
Citrus x sinensis	orange	6.0 – 7.5
Clematis spp	clematis	6.75
Cotoneaster sp	cotoneaster	6.75
Eucalyptus spp	eucalyptus	6.75
Fraxinus spp	ash	6.0 – 7.5
Juglans nigra	black walnut	6.0 – 8.0
Kolkwitzia amabilis	beauty bush	6.0 – 7.5
Laburnum	golden chain	6.75 – 7.5
Malus spp	crabapple	6.0 – 7.5
Parthenocissus tricuspidata	Boston ivy	6.75 – 7.5
Prunus domestica	plum	6.0 – 8.0
Prunus dulcis	almond tree	6.75
Pyrus spp	pear	6.0 – 7.5
Rubus idaeus	red raspberry	5.5 – 7.0
Salix spp	willow	6.0 – 8.0
Spiraea arguta	bridal wreath	6.75 – 7.5
Syringa spp	lilac	6.75 – 7.0
Tilia americana	basswood	6.0 – 7.5