we've come to Holland Park in London
head Gardener Stella Fe is going to show
us how to test your soil PH the pH
refers to how acidic or alkaline your
soil is and is important for plant
growth most plants will grow well in
neutral soil but some prefer acidic or
alkaline conditions by doing the test
you'll be able to find out which plants
suit your garden step one you will need
a pH tester this can be bought from a
garden center and a trial step two
preparing the site use the trial to dig
a small hole in an area of soil break up
and crumble the soil inside the hole
remove any debris such as stones and
twigs fill the hole with water to create
a muddy pool you should use rain water
or bottled water which will have a
neutral pH tap water may not be
perfectly neutral and so may affect the
result step three taking a reading wipe
the tester with a tissue or cloth and
insert it into the hole wait for 60
seconds before taking a reading pH is
usually measured on a scale of 1 to
14 neutral soil is
ph7 acidic soil is below seven and
alkaline is above
seven some testers will have a color
scale rather than numbers if the tester
turns yellow or orange the soil is
acidic green represents neutral soil and
dark green represents
alkaline once you know the pH of the
soil you can concentrate on growing
plants that will do well in your
garden done