Plants to plant in Chalky soil

 Plants to plant in Chalky soil

 If you Garden in the South East (the White Cliffs of Dover) you will know you have mostly lime rich chalky soil, its dry, stony and low in nutrient, but by choosing the right plants, species that are naturally adapted to these environments. Our own wildflowers growing in the meadows of the South Downs and the Mediterranean flowers and shrubs that are at home in chalky soil, lovely gardens have been created on chalk.

 For those of us not sure what type of garden soil we have, a simple soil test will point us in the right direction.
We then have choices, spend a fortune trying to change the chalky soil in our garden, or grow what will grow. If you want to grow lime-hating plants like rhododendrons, camellias, azaleas and heathers and you have chalky soil, grow them in containers filled with ericaceous compost

Our own native wildflowers such as poppies, cornflowers and chamomile, grow well in chalky soils. Echinacea, lisianthus and rudbeckia originally from the  American chalk prairies and in sunny gardens the Mediterranean herbs like lavender, rosemary, bay and fennel, all love chalk soils.



These Chalk loving Hardy perennials mixed with  the plants I have mentioned above will get you off to a great start in creating a natural chalk garden.