High soil pH can be man-made from too much lime or another soil neutralizer. Adjusting soil pH can be a slippery slope, so it’s always best to test the soil’s pH level and follow instructions to the “T” when using anything to change soil pH. If your soil is highly alkaline, adding Sulphur, peat moss, sawdust, or aluminum sulfate can help neutralize it. It’s best to adjust soil pH slowly, over time, avoiding any quick fixes. Rather than messing with products to alter the soil pH, you can simply add plants suitable for alkaline soil.
What are Some Alkaline Tolerant Plants?
Gardening with alkaline soil isn't a challenge when you use alkaline-tolerant plants. Below is a list of many suitable plants for alkaline soil. Trees
Shrubs
- Barberry
- Smoke Bush
- Spirea
- Cotoneaster
- Panicle Hydrangea
- Hydrangea
- Juniper
- Potentilla
- Lilac
- Viburnum
- Forsythia
- Boxwood
- Euonymus
- Mock Orange
- Weigela
- Oleander
Annuals/Perennials
- Dusty Miller
- Geranium
- Yarrow
- Cinquefoil
- Astilbe
- Clematis
- Coneflower
- Daylily
- Coral Bells
- Honeysuckle Vine
- Hosta
- Creeping Phlox
- Garden Phlox
- Salvia
- Brunnera
- Dianthus
- Sweet Pea
Herbs/Vegetables
As you can see, there are a number of plants that will tolerate alkaline soil in the garden. So, if you don’t want to fool around with changing the pH levels in the soil, it is quite possible to find a plant suitable for planting in an alkaline garden.