Soil pH in Hillsborough, NH: Lime or Sulfur?
Typical topsoil pH in Hillsborough, NH
Typical topsoil in Hillsborough, NH is pH 4.78, too acidic for vegetable garden. Expect roughly 11.9 lb of lime per 100 sq ft, but only after a soil test confirms it.
What Hillsborough needs, by plant
- Already in range: blueberries, azaleas and rhododendrons.
- Just outside, test first: potatoes (off by 0.2), blue hydrangeas (off by 0.2).
- Lime: lawn (cool-season grass) 11.9 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; vegetable garden 11.9 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; tomatoes 11.9 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; strawberries 8.4 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; roses 11.9 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; pink hydrangeas 10.5 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications.
What to do next
If your test confirms pH near 4.78, spread about 119 lb of ground limestone per 1,000 sq ft of vegetable bed in 3 doses, ideally in fall.
How mixed the soil is
Of the 516,712 surveyed acres in Hillsborough, NH, 87% are strongly acidic (below 5.5), 12% are moderately acidic (5.5-6.5). Mapped soils run from pH 4 to 6.8, a spread of 2.8 units across 594 soil components. 87% of the land falls in one class, so the county figure is a fair first guess for most yards here.
Clay, organic matter and rates
Topsoil here averages 5% clay and 6.34% organic matter, which this site treats as loam. At 6.34% organic matter the soil buffers like a heavier one, which pushes it into the loam bracket. Moving it one pH unit takes about 7 lb of lime or 2.3 lb of sulfur per 100 sq ft. None of the mapped components carry free carbonate.
Hillsborough against the rest of New Hampshire
pH 4.78 is right at the New Hampshire median of 4.79. 1 of 10 New Hampshire counties have more acidic topsoil. Nationally it is more acidic than the US county median of 6.05.
Closest in pH within the state: Belknap (4.74), Carroll (4.78), Merrimack (4.79), Sullivan (4.79), Grafton (4.8), Cheshire (4.86).
The range in New Hampshire runs from Belknap at 4.74 to Strafford at 5.12; Hillsborough sits 11% of the way up.