We moved into a house with a big (by London standards) garden 18 months ago. The garden had been badly neglected and we spent the first few months digging out brambles, bindweed and... builders’ rubble. Absolutely tons of it, up to a foot down practically everywhere we dug. Now the rubble-digging is just a bad memory (although, whenever we dig planting holes, there always seems to be a piece or two that we missed). In parts of the garden the soil is pretty good (for clay) and we’ve incorporated lots of organic matter. However, it’s quite alkaline because of the rubble. I’m hoping this will wash out eventually, although on a clay soil I imagine this could take quite a long time.

Parts of the garden are surrounded by mature trees that create dappled shade but are far enough away not to take too much moisture and nutrient from the soil. We’ve planted a “woodland clearing” area which has lots of dogwoods (Cornus alba, sanguinea and sericea), a silver birch, some ornamental elders and suitable bulbs and perennials. We have several Acer palmatum atropurpurea (young plants, about 2 feet tall) in pots and I would love to plant one out in this area. Undoubtedly it would work really well with the planting scheme, but my question is, can I expect it to thrive? Almost every source I’ve read, or person I’ve spoken to, has indicated that it would be a bad idea to plant an Acer palmatum on alkaline soil. However, a couple of reputable books have included the words “lime tolerant” in their description of this plant. Is it the quality of the soil that is the important thing? I know it wouldn’t thrive on thin chalk, but our soil is deep and rich, and we mulch it regularly with leafmould and composted bark. I had thought to use sulphur chips/flowers of sulphur to lower the area’s pH but read somewhere that Acer palmatum react badly to excess sulphur in the soil.

Any thoughts? Does anybody have a positive experience of planting Japanese maples on less-than-ideal sites? The ones we have in pots are all watered with our alkaline tap-water in summer months and it doesn’t seem to do them any harm.

(Incidentally, when I complained to a gardening friend about the rubble-induced alkalinity of my soil, she jokingly suggested I plant lots of brassicas to use up the lime.. I know they’d use up calcium and other minerals, but would that actually help lower the soil pH?)

Many thanks for reading this far (sorry for the long post, but I’m starting to get obsessed about this...)

"Ornata" wrote in message
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http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile...ultivation.asp

What I'd suggest is plant one and see how it goes/takes ... if it starts
looking sorry then be prepared to move to another area or back into pots.

Thanks for the reply and the link. That was what I was planning to do, but I just wanted to hear it from somebody else!

Just for an update: we've gone and done it. It looks beautiful and I really hope it does well (it's in a very decent patch of soil and I seem to remember there were more bottles than rubble buried in that particular area...) Google came up with an article on the Orange County Register that recommended watering every couple of months with a solution of white vinegar diluted in water (about 2 tblsps per gallon) to flush out salts from the root area and neutralise any alkalinity. I wouldn't have thought such a weak solution of vinegar could affect pH much, but I'll give it a try.