Soil Testing with Indicator Plants | What Do the Weeds in My Lawn Tell Me?

There are plants that are better adapted to certain soil conditions and, as a result, tend to thrive in the following types of soil. These are known as indicator plants:

1. Nitrogen-rich soil: Stinging nettle, speedwell, goose thistle, goosefoot, ground elder, shepherd's purse, chamomile, cleavers, cabbage thistle, dandelion, orache, couch grass, deadnettle, chickweed

2. Nitrogen-deficient soil: common foxtail, hornwort, hunger flower, dog chamomile/odorless chamomile, vetch

3. Potassium-rich soil: Report, Foxtail

4. Calcareous soil: Field bellflower, field hornwort, field mustard, field bindweed, stinging nettle, speedwell, goose thistle, hare's-foot clover, prickly thistle, coltsfoot, poppy, clover, toadflax, dandelion, marigold, delphinium, cranesbill, deadnettle, chicory, meadow sage

5. Low-calcium soil: Dog chamomile, small sorrel, wood sorrel, horsetail, pansies

6. Soil rich in humus: Stinging nettle, dandelion, chickweed

7. Alkaline soil, field toothwort, field mustard, field pansy, creeping cinquefoil, wild oats, alfalfa, chicory, meadow cranesbill

8. Acidic soil: Speedwell (Veronica), daisy, hare's-clover, hedge mustard, hollow-toothed plantain, (dog) chamomile, wood sorrel, small meadow sorrel, holly, violet pansies, woolly honeygrass

9. Nutrient-poor soil: Daisies, heather, shepherd's purse, star-of-Bethlehem, small meadow sorrel, marguerite, wood sorrel, pansies, white clover

10. Nutrient-rich soil (humus): Stinging nettle, thistle, (white) goosefoot, shepherd's purse, coltsfoot, orache, blunt-leaved sorrel

11. Wet, compacted soil, waterlogging: Field mint, field horsetail, field mint, sorrel knotweed, comfrey, broad-leaved plantain, goose cinquefoil, buttercup, coltsfoot, climbing bedstraw, creeping buttercup, dandelion

12. Dry soil: Blood millet, hollow-toothed plant, white carnation, sickle-leaved carrot, summer pheasant's eye, sunflower, cranesbill, plantain

13. Soil low in organic matter: Feverfew, knotweed, couch grass

14. Waterlogged soil: Field mint, sorrel knotweed, goose cinquefoil, coltsfoot, creeping buttercup, horsetail, meadow knotweed

15. Compacted, heavy soil (loam, clay): Common foxtail, common thistle, field mint, field horsetail, broad-leaved plantain, goose cinquefoil, goose thistle, coltsfoot, chamomile, knotweed, mullein, creeping creeping buttercup, dandelion, bird knotweed

16. Sandy soil: heather, pine, poppy, mullein, chickweed, spurge

17. Neutral ground: Chamomile

18. Intermittently damp or constantly wet floor: Seggen

19. Moist to wet soil: Field mint, goose fingerwort, wood sorrel, knotweed, creeping buttercup, horsetail, marsh marigold, wood horsetail