Ideal pH vs Tolerable pH
A lot of sites will list the ideal pH of a tree species. This is good information, but we don’t always live in an area that has a pH range close to those ideal pH numbers. The question then becomes “What pH can this species tolerate?” For how relevant this question is, you don’t see much information about the limits of a tree’s pH tolerance, and this was what I went seeking when doing the research for this chart.
The reality is that there isn’t a perfect list of all trees with all of the exact parameters that is 100% accurate. I’ve combed everything I could find and couldn’t find anywhere that listed a Leyland Cypress as handling a pH higher than 7.5, but I’ve seen them thrive in soils with a pH of at least 8.0 or higher. That being said, the chart below includes 10 different listings of a species ability to handle different pH and my personal experience. I’ve included the highest stated and lowest stated pH for each species to come up with the range under pH Tolerance.
pH Tolerance Chart
If you have any experience that can help to further perfect this list, please send me an email at [email protected].
List of resources used in compiling this information:
- https://s3.amazonaws.com/assets.cce.cornell.edu/attachments/2689/Trees-Tolerant-of-High-Soil-pH-1-11.pdf?1410527496
- http://www.americaslongleaf.org/media/iqmc4tyw/soil-ph-tree-suitability-in-the-south-_sref_.pdf
- http://almanac.com
- https://stormwater.pca.state.mn.us/index.php/Tree_species_list_-_pH_and_moisture_ranges
- https://cropwatch.unl.edu/documents/Matching%20Trees%20to%20Planting%20Site-persian.pdf
- http://www.gardenersnet.com/atoz/ph-bushes-trees.htm
- https://selectree.calpoly.edu/
- https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/magnolia-grandiflora/
- https://leafnetworkaz.org/resources/CHOOSE/Soil.pdf
- http://www.hort.cornell.edu/uhi/outreach/recurbtree/pdfs/~recurbtrees.pdf
