Just because it likes acid, does not mean that it will acidify the soil- it just means that it will grow poorly.

By this logic- the veg. gardners would not need to lime plots to make them higher pH- they'd just plant something that likes higher pH. Doesn't work.

Oh- alkalinity- right- no, it won't "suck up" alkalinity. The pH effects the nutrients that it will take up, but that doesn't mean that it "uses up" alkalinity.

Sorry- too much cold medicine today

I wonder if you watered with some vinegar occasionally if that would help your alkalinity or at least balance things out for neutral plants?

The only thing I know of that significantly reduces pH is soil sulfur. You can spread it on top, but much of the sulfur will then be lost to the air. The best approach is to dig holes in the spots that are most alkaline and pour sulfur in, then cover with dirt. This takes months to have any effect, but the effect is fairly long lived.

Watering with vinegar can have an immediate effect, but it will likely be short lived and will probably not affect the pH significantly. It's worth considering as an adjunct to the sulfur, but since it's so short lived and limited, I'd do it along with the sulfur rather than in place of the sulfur.

The only other thing to do is what you've already been doing, and that is to add as much organic matter as possible. That helps bring the soil closer to neutral and also buffers the alkalinity.

Thanks everyone. I suppose I'll just keep shovelling on the organic matter, with its many benefits. I did use sulphur chips in a part of the garden but I just spread them on the surface. Thanks for the tip about digging it in.

... And anyway, maybe people focus too much on soil pH; I'd like to think that decent soil structure and humus content are more important factors (but I'm probably wrong about that too...!)

Well, there is a real trend to ignore pH, particularly in organic circles. This is a really bad idea. Generally speaking organic decomposition, rain, and nitrogen fertilizers will acidify soil over time. But sulfur does a lot in a hurry.

Mix buiding rubble (read: "concrete") in the soil, and you have an aweful lot to neutralize. Regular yearly applications of compost and sulfur may be required.

Our area leans toward alkaline. I ammend heavily but also occasionally need to put a little bit of garden sulphur on my garden. It does not really take a long time to help, but it does last quite awhile. I sometimes apply some 21-0-0 Ammonium sulfate after putting down a good thick layer of shredded oak leaves to be turned under.

Two soil test this spring showed 6.6 and 7.1 pH which ain't too bad.
If you get a soil test, it will usually give you recommendations of how much of what to apply.
Bill P.

Hey I had your same problem, beds full of rubble and thus alkaline soil, i could solve the problem a bit and im still working on it, i currently have lowered the ph by 1 point.
What i did was: till, remove the rubble, added lots of cow manure, not aged plain and fresh (i did this because i was not going to plant anything there immediatelly and fresh manure is more acidic), i added once a month generous amounts of iron sulphate (so iron would be available, cause in high ph it tends to lock up not be available, and also it is very acidic, because it contains sulphur), and watered every week with an vinegar solution. After 5 months of doing this i planted roses and some herbs, and they suffered from cholriosis, but in time and with more additions of iron suphate and vinegar an OM i managed to solve this, and now im doing great in that bed.
Hope this helped

What your friend probably means is that you're better off growing cabbages, since Brassicas are tolerant of growing in alkaline soils. They don't affect the pH of the soil.