WHEN it comes to choosing plants for your garden or allotment, pH is the term used to measure how acid or alkaline the soil is, which has an influence over what will grow well. The ‘available lime’ (or lack of it) affects the availability of nutrients within the soil or compost, so the tolerances and preferences of plants have to be taken into consideration, otherwise you will be fighting a constant battle to keep the plant healthy. Planting an acid-loving rhododendron into chalky alkaline soil would mean having to apply acid treatments constantly so it can survive,
