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The intensely alkaline soil of the Carrizo Plain National Monument, a remote grassland east of San Luis Obispo, also deters invasives from prospering, according to Dudney.

Once they’re established, they can tolerate drought, alkaline soil and poor fertility.

Addressing alkaline soil requires products like sphagnum peat, elemental sulfur, aluminum sulfate, iron sulfate, acidifying nitrogen, and organic mulches, according to Grove Collaborative.

On the Orkney Islands, north of Scotland, Saladino encounters a barley that bends rather than breaks in the area’s harsh winds and thrives in sandy, alkaline soil.

Jo Anne Trigo, co-owner of Two Dog Organic Nursery, has a suggestion for watering acid-loving plants such as blueberries, which do best in containers anyway in Southern California, because it’s hard to keep enough acidity in our alkaline soil.