GrowingHQ

Crops for chalky, alkaline soil

Chalk rules some things out absolutely — blueberries cannot be grown in the ground on it — and grows the Mediterranean herbs better than anywhere else. It is the soil where the difference between 'not preferred' and 'impossible' matters most, and where most advice conflates them.

How this list was built

Generated from the catalogue by the same engine that powers What can I grow? — 14 of the 102 edible plants qualify. It is published because it names a question people ask, returns enough plants to be useful, does not return most of the group it is about, and rests on fields that are actually populated. Lists that fail any of those are on the coverage page instead.

14 plants
PlantTypeLightSpacingMin. pot depthIn a container
BayLaurus nobilisHerbStraightforwardFull sun, Partial shade150–300 cm35 cmwell suited
BorageBorago officinalisHerbStraightforwardFull sun, Partial shade45–60 cm30 cmworkable
HyssopHyssopus officinalisHerbStraightforwardFull sun40–50 cm25 cmwell suited
LavenderLavandula angustifoliaOrnamentalSome care neededFull sun45–90 cm25 cmwell suited
Lemon thymeThymus citriodorusHerbSome care neededFull sun30–40 cm20 cmwell suited
MarjoramOriganum majoranaHerbStraightforwardFull sun20–30 cm15 cmwell suited
OreganoOriganum vulgareHerbStraightforwardFull sun30 cm20 cmwell suited
RosemarySalvia rosmarinusHerbStraightforwardFull sun90 cm30 cmwell suited
SageSalvia officinalisHerbStraightforwardFull sun60 cm25 cmwell suited
Salad burnetSanguisorba minorHerbStraightforwardFull sun, Partial shade30–40 cm25 cmwell suited
SavorySatureja hortensisHerbStraightforwardFull sun20–25 cm15 cmwell suited
TarragonArtemisia dracunculusHerbSome care neededFull sun45–60 cm25 cmwell suited
ThymeThymus vulgarisHerbStraightforwardFull sun30 cm15 cmwell suited
Winter savorySatureja montanaHerbStraightforwardFull sun30–40 cm25 cmwell suited