The vegetation is Atlantic heather moor with low relative grazing value, providing poor natural grazings. Improvement of these soils is difficult, due to steep slopes and intricate soil patterns, but some localised areas with more gently sloping hummocks and a low proportion of peat might repay improvement by reseeding combined with liming and fertiliser. The peaty podzols on basalt give more favourable sites for improvement and LCA Class 5 land is more extensive. This is because the soil pattern is less complex, occurring on more uniform terraced slopes, rather than irregular hummocky topography. They are formed under waterlogged conditions on gentle and moderate slopes or in depressions.
Dystrophic peat is extensive and covers much of the gently sloping hill ground.
Where the peat is flushed by surface water from adjacent rocks and soils its chemistry is sometimes altered. Profile morphology is the same as in the unflushed peats, but pH values are higher on peats close to limestone or shelly sand. Peatland vegetation is dominated by blanket bog and bog heather moor communities and has a low relative grazing value, though some peats with higher base status may carry rush pastures which have moderate grazing values. High water contents for most of the year, coupled with very low bulk density, preclude improvement by mechanical means and these soils have been placed in LCA Class 6. As the climate becomes more extreme with altitude the characteristics of the soils change.