Gardening question

[Enthusiast]

Well, not gardening exactly. Years ago the owners of our house(built in 1926)dumped their coal ashes under and around the front porch. Can you imagine? Not realizing this we planted a Rhododendron right were the ashes are most concentrated. Our Rhododendron has grown but has very meager blooms or sometimes none at all. This prompted me to study up on Rhododendrons. They require an acid soil. We have since added peat moss and oak leaf mulch to lower the PH but the plant remains sickly. Does anyone know of an online source of information, like a message board I can consult? TIA

[XemaSab]

1. You could ask in the gardening forum here

Personally, I'd dig the plant up and move it.

Remediating soil like that is going to take a longer time than the life of the plant. :(

[Enthusiast]

2. Thank you, XemaSab nt

[MajorChode]

3. It's not that hard to correct a PH that is too low, but much more difficult to go the othe way

You have the right idea with oak leaf mulch, but I just don't think you can mulch enough to overcome your PH problem.

The soil PH in my area is pretty high, which means some shrubs and trees just won't do well. Many oak tree varieties will die a slow death if planted here. There are a few people who plant azaleas (an acid loving plant like the Rhododendron), but to do so they have to remove and replace their plant bed soil. This is probably your best option.

[obxhead]

4. Aluminum Sulfate will lower your PH.

[MajorChode]

5. In my experience, it's pretty tricky to use...

especially without a soil test. And even if you can get good results, they are usually just temporary.

[Enthusiast]

6. Thanks, everyone. nt

[northernlights]

7. try your local cooperative extension

All the aggie universities have them. They were set up way back when to help support the farmers. There are online resources available through them.

They also can test your soil and make recommendations of how much of what to lower your pH to appropriate levels.