Lime-hating plants

If you love rhododendrons, azaleas and camellias but don’t have acid soil, the answer is to grow them in containers with the right compost, water and food

- Graham Rice

Did you know?

You can check whether your tap water is hard or soft by tapping in your postcode on your water company’s website.

WE all know the dazzling colours of rhododendrons at their peak, but we also realise that most of us don’t have the right soil in which to grow them. We may even take day trips to gardens where they thrive, just to enjoy their dazzling colours.

But if you’d love to be able to grow lime-hating rhododendrons and azaleas, not to mention other acid-lovers such as evergreens pieris, camellias, kalmias, most heaths and heathers, and blueberries– all of which hate lime – you can. Grow them in pots in compost they enjoy, water them with the right water and feed them with the right food.

You can create a whole lime-free container garden in a partly shaded corner of the patio and grow these beautiful, but rather particular, plants that no one else in your area is growing.

Choosing the right compost

So, first, compost. Look for compost marked ericaceous or lime-free. A quick web search will reveal a range of different brands, most of them available in one place on the Amazon website. But if you’re also looking to go peat-free there are only a few options and Bulrush Peat Free Ericaceous, Miracle Gro Peat Free Premium Ericaceous and SylvaGrow Ericaceous are the ones you’re most likely to come across.

It pays to take a few minutes to look for the best prices, comparing bag size and price, because prices for the same product can vary widely from place to place.