Plants for acid soils with bursts of yellow

Plenty of plants thrive in the lower pH of acidic or ericaceous soil, so it's possible to create a full and attractive border even in these sometimes challenging conditions

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Corylopsis offers welcome spring colour
Corylopsis offers welcome spring colour

Quick facts

  • For some plants acidic soil is essential and these are often refered to as ericaceous plants
  • Ericaceous soil can be bought for pots, for acid-loving plants on a patio
  • Acid conditions are produced by the underlying rock-type which is not something which can be easily altered, so it is best to use plants that naturally prefer the right soil type

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The planting plan

James Lawrence, RHS Principal Horticultural Advisor, has designed this simple, attractive, and most importantly, sustainable, border design for you to try at home with plants that are easy to grow, widely available and look good together.
This planting design provides a range of plants with splashes of yellow colour that, once established, will thrive in acidic soil and provide a variety of interest throughout the year. A simple planting plan helps create depth, interest and good coverage in a border.

Acid soil, pastel shades

© James Lawrence

Choosing plants for acid soil

These plants have been selected because their preferred growing condition is acidic soil. By using plants that are naturally adapted to this condition, we can reduce the potential problems that are more likely with plants which are less well suited.
The Epimedium and Gentiana, provide some groundcover and will help prevent erosion of bare soil. The groundcover can also help to reduce soil surface moisture evaporation and suppress weed growth. Additional organic mulching can further improve soil moisture retention and weed suppression.
1 - Abies koreana 'Silberlocke'
2 - Hamamelis x intermedia   'Arnold Promise'
3 - Epimedium x warleyensis
4 - Gentiana 'Strathmore'
5 - Gaultheria mucronata 'Bell's seedling'
6 - Corylopsis pauciflora
1 - Abies koreana ‘Silberlocke’ is a small evergreen tree which has dark needle-leaves curved upwards to show the white undersides. Large purple-brown cones are borne in spring.
2 - Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Arnold Promise’ is a large spreading shrub of open habit. It has green leaves which turn red and yellow in autumn, and fragrant, bright yellow flower tassels on bare stems in late winter.
3 - Epimedium x warleyense forms a spreading evergreen mound of divided leaves, held on thin wiry stems. These often have strong red tints, especially when young. It bears sprays of coppery-red and yellow flowers in spring.
4 - Gentiana ‘Strathmore’ is a mat-forming herbaceous perennial with narrow green leaves and sky-blue funnel-shaped flowers with paler stripes, in autumn.
5 - Gaultheria mucronata ‘Bell’s Seedling’ is a small dense evergreen shrub with tiny dark leaves and clusters of small white flowers in late spring and early summer. These ripen into dark crimson berries in autumn.
6 - Corylopsis pauciflora is a deciduous shrub with green leaves tinged red when young. It has fragrant, pale yellow, bell-shaped flowers, opening before the leaves in spring.

About acidic or ericaceous soil

Acidic soils can be found all over the country in pockets, but are more generally found in south-western England, Wales and Scotland. The low pH is caused by the underlying bedrock. It is easy to check your soil's pH using a kit bought from a garden centre but can often be judged by the plants which already thrive in the soil near you. 

The challenge of growing on acidic soils

Strongly acidic soil can make it hard for some mineral nutrients to be taken up by plant roots – meaning they can’t grow and develop well. However if your plants have adapted to naturally thrive in those conditions, they will grow much better. 

Why choose a sustainable planting combination

Using the ethos of 'right plant, right place' to create a sustainable planting combination, is a great for the environment. It helps avoid waste and the use of products and practices needed to try and help ailing plants, such as the application of fertiliser. It also creates robust, long-lived planting that benefits soil health and garden biodiversity.

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