Gardening Ideas from the Weatherstaff PlantingPlanner Blog

6 Shrubs for Chalky Soil

Ceanothus Autumnal Blue - shrub for chalk

Alkaline-tolerant Shrubs for Chalk and Limestone Conditions

If you garden on chalk or limestone, you probably already know that acid-loving plants, like rhododendrons and heathers will not be happy in your soil. Your plants will need to be able to cope with alkaline conditions and frequently dry and nutrient-poor conditions.

Here is a selection of shrubs which should feel right at home in your garden.

Weigela

Weigela ‘Florida Variegata’ has been awarded the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit (AGM). It is a bushy, deciduous shrub with arching stems, growing to 2.5 metre in height. The grey-green leaves, margined creamy-white, are useful for providing foliage in cut flower displays.

Attractive, funnel-shaped, pale rose-pink flowers, loved by bees, appear in...

Some plants are particularly versatile and unfussy, making themselves at home and seeming to thrive wherever they come to rest. Most plants however have a preference for a particular set of growing conditions or cannot cope if the temperature gets too high or the water supply too low. Keen gardeners may relish the challenge of coaxing a particular favourite plant to prosper, but if you don’t have the time to lovingly cosset your choice specimens, getting the plants in the right place to start with is the way to go.

Plants for Chalky Soil

If your garden has chalky soil, your plants need to be able to cope with its very free-draining, nutrient-poor, alkaline conditions. (Soils rich in limestone share...

Geranium Rozanne - from the Weatherstaff PlantingPlanner

Plants for Dry Conditions

If you garden in hot, dry conditions, it’s worth seeking out plants which will thrive in this situation. With climate change giving us unpredictable weather patterns,...