Acid soil

[Sahira Ward]

Hi Charles

Is it ok to use leafmould to top dress a bluberry?

Regards

Sahira

[charles]

 Hello Sahira, leaf mould is not acidic so it may raise the pH. If your soil is generally pretty acidic, no problem.

[Sahira Ward]

Hello Charles.

My blueberry is in a crate and I used shop bought ericaceous soil. I just wanted to give it a boost. So would composted horse manure be the correct pH? Great news Charles I’ve been given permission from Central Beds Highways to set up the beginnings of Incredible Edible Dunstable 100 metres from my front door. You probably wont remember the site by our shops when you visited last year. I need to know if it’s ok to leave the roots of Pyracanthus and Rose of Sharon shrubs in the soil and then just install the raised beds on the top of them.

Kind regards

Sahira

[charles]

 Congratulations! Sounds like you will be busy there… I would leave all the smaller roots in those beds after taking out the main stumps, then beds on top.

Animal manures are mostly neutral pH (unless putrid and smelly) so the horse manure would lift the pH of your ericaceous compost and it is safest to give it more of the latter.

[ashleigh]

i top-dressed my blueberries with needles and twigs from a pine tree that had been chopped down and left in a heap. i was also considering collecting people’s discarded xmas trees for this, will do this next year.

[charles]

 Apparently the acidity in pine needles becomes weak as they dry out and soil under old pine trees is often of similar pH to the same soil which is not under pine trees….

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