All over Britain there are several different soil types depending on where you
are and sometimes your neighbours soil can be very different to yours. Most shrubs
will tolerate most soil types, however they might not perform as well as they should.
Here, for your information, are some of the most common soil types with a few
planting suggestions.
| Clay Soils |
- Aucuba japonica Shrub
- Berberis (barberry) Shrub
- Chaenomeles (japonica) Shrub
- Choisya ternata (Mexican orange blossom) Shrub
- Cornus (dogwood) Shrub
- Cotoneaster Shrub
- Forsythia (golden bells) Shrub
- Hypericum (st. john's wort) Shrub
|
- Mahonia Shrub
- Philadelphus (mock orange) Shrub
- Pyracantha (firethorn) Shrub
- Skimmia Shrub
- Spiraea Shrub
- Viburnum Shrub
- Vinca (periwinkle) Shrub
- Weigela Shrub
|
| Moist, Boggy Soils. |
- Ajuga (bugle) Perennial
- Aster (michealmas daisy) Perennial
- Astibe varieties Perennial
- Cornus (dogwood) Shrub
- Digitalis (foxglove) Perennial
- Hardy Fuchsias Shrub
- Hemerocallis (daylily) Perennial
- Hostas Perennial
- Houttuynia Perennial
- Iris Perennial
- Kniphofia (red hot poker) Perennial
|
- Lobelia Perennial
- Lythrum (loosestrife) Perennial
- Monarda (beramot, or horse mint) Perennial
- Salix (shrubby willow) Shrub
- Spirea Shrub
- Thalictrum (meadow rue) Perennial
- Trollius (globe flower) Perennial
|
Acid, lime free soils
A simple test to see if you have acid soil is to:
take two tablespoons of soil and mix with some vinegar if it fizzes audibly
then you have lime in your soil; acid soil does not fizz. Nearly all
water-logged land is acid as well as matted lawns and shallow soils. |
- Crinodendron Hookerianum Shrub
- Enkianthus (pagoda bush) Shrub
- Eucryphia Shrub
- Pernettya (prickly heath) Shrub
- Rhododendrons Shrub
|
| Dry, Poor, Sandy, Soils. |
- Aucuba Shrub
- Chaenomeles (Japonica) Shrub
- Cotoneaster Shrub
- Cytisus (broom) Shrub
- Genista (broom) Shrub
- Garrya elliptica (silk tassel bush) Shrub
- Gaillardia (blanket flower) Perennial
- Helianthemum (sunrose) Perennial
|
- Hypericum (st. john's wort) Shrub
- Lavender Shrub
- Ophiopogon (snakesbeard) Perennial
- Philadelphus (mock orange) Shrub
- Salvia Ostfriesland (sage) Perennial
- Sedum Perennial
|
| Chalky Soils. |
- Aucuba shrub
- Berberis (barberry) shrub
- Buddleia (butterfly bush) shrub
- Callicarpa (beauty bush) Shrub
- Caryopteris (blue spiraea) Shrub
- Ceanothus (califorian lilac) Shrub
- Choisya (Mexican orange blossom) Shrub
- Cistus (rock rose) Shrub
- Coruns (dogwood) Shrub
- Cotoneaster Shrub
- Deutzia Shrub
- Euonymus Shrub
- Forsythia (golden bells) Shrub
- Fuchsia Hardy Shrub
- Garrya (silk tassel bush) Shrub
- Hebe (shrubby veronica) Shrub
|
- Hypericum (st. john's wort) Shrub
- Ilex (holly) Shrub
- Kolkwitzia (beauty bush) Shrub
- Lavender Shrub
- Mahonia Shrub
- Paeonia Perennial
- Philadelphus (mock orange) Shrub
- Photinia Shrub
- Pittosporum Shrub
- Pyracantha (firethorn) Shrub
- Rosmarinus (rosemary) Shrub
- Santolina (cotton lavender) Shrub
- Syringa (lilac) Shrub
- Tamarix (tamarisk) Shrub
- Vinca (periwinkle) Shrub
- Weigela Shrub
- Yucca Shrub
|
