Maintaining a healthy and lush lawn requires more than just watering; it also often requires fertilizing and multiple other treatments, such as using Garden Lime. If you want to get the most out of your lawn, it’s important that you know when and how often lime should be applied. Lime is a key component of fertilizer, as it helps to balance the pH levels of the soil.
In this blog post, we will discuss the different ways you can apply lime to your lawn and the benefits you can expect to see. So, if you’re curious about lime and how it can help your lawn, keep reading! By following these guidelines, you can create a healthy and beautiful lawn that will be the envy of your neighborhood.
What Is Lime?
When it comes to lime, many homeowners are unsure of what it is and what it does, but it can be an incredibly helpful tool and great resource. Lime is an alkaline soil amendment that raises the pH level of your soil. It is also called Agricultural Lime or Garden Lime, and it is made from either pulverized limestone or chalk.
There are four types of lime that can be used to alter the soil’s acidity level, and over the course of 2 to 3 months, you may expect the pH level to rise. Lime is usually the quickest approach to improve the soil’s pH level, and the finer the lime, the more rapidly it will work. Lime is a natural, cheap, and environmentally friendly substance that has many health benefits for your lawn.
How to Tell If Your Lawn Needs Lime
There are some signs that can indicate that your lawn needs lime. If your plants are not growing as well as they should, if you see patches of dead grass or brown and yellow spots on your lawn, or if the leaves on your plants are curling, then it may be time to apply some lime. A significant infestation of weeds is another sign of a highly acidic lawn that needs lime correction.
If you have sandy soil or clay soil, both of these are naturally acidic, so you can use lime to counteract that. Also, if you test your soil with a pH tester and it comes back less than 6.2, you should look into lime applications.
Is Lime Good For Grass?
Now that you know a little more about lime, we’ll go over some of its benefits.
First off, not every lawn needs an application of lime. Only use it if your lawn is too acidic – below 6 or 6.2 on the pH scale. You want to get your lawn to around 6.5, so the amount of applications, as well as the intensity, depends on how acidic your lawn is to start.
Adding Necessary Nutrients
Lime helps to neutralize acidic soils by raising their pH levels. This will guarantee that it is able to store and release all of the nutrients you provide, as well as additional ones like calcium, magnesium, and other hard minerals.
It also improves water penetration in acidic soils, so your grasses and plants will be better at receiving and storing water.
Nourishing Essential Bacteria
Lime also promotes soil microbe activity.
Healthy soil is filled with beneficial fungus and bacteria, which aid in the breakdown of thatch, organic waste, and fertilizer so that your grass can more successfully utilize them as food sources, and a rich, neutral soil environment encourages bacterial development and boosts your soil’s growth rate.
Lime can also be applied in order to make your lawn healthier and more tolerant to pests and diseases.
How to Detect Soil pH
Soil pH is a measure of how acidic or alkaline a soil is. A soil with a pH below 7 is acidic, while a soil with a pH above 7 is alkaline. Most plants prefer a slightly acidic soil with a pH between 6 and 7. If your soil is too acidic or too alkaline, you may have problems with plant growth. You can use lime to adjust the pH of your soil so that it is more hospitable to plant growth.
Conduct A pH Test
Before applying lime, make sure to test the soil with pH testing kit. What this does is it analyzes the soil either chemically or electronically, and reads out a pH number. Do this a few times in a few different parts of your lawn and garden to get a fully accurate reading. Depending on its results, you’ll know if you need to apply lime or not, as well as how much and how often.
Look through our reviews and buying guide if you would like to purchase a soil pH testing kit.
How and When to Apply a Lime Application
Now that you’ve determined your lawn needs an application of lime, how do you go about doing that? One of the first things to do is prepare your lawn. Mow it and aerate it, so that the lime has the maximum chance of working.
Granular and pelletized lime can be mixed into granular or pellet fertilizer, while hydrated lime should be used only when the soil is extremely acidic and produces a faster impact. If you do have granulated lime, use a drop or rotary spreader as you would with granulated fertilizer.
For best results, lime should be used at least 2 or 3 months before the planting season, ideally in the fall or early spring, though it can be done at the end of the winter months as well. However, lime should never be applied on a wet lawn, so wait a few days after a heavy rainfall, and check the forecast when you’re ready to do it.
Are There Any Negative Effects?
There may be some minor negative effects associated with applying too much lime but nothing serious which shouldn’t keep us from enjoying our beautiful green grassy lawns year-round!
For example, if your lawn is already neutral or alkaline in its pH, then using lime will actually be a negative for it because it will push it further alkaline and your plants will not be able to get the necessary macronutrients they thrive on.
Final Summary
In conclusion, if you’re wondering what lime does for your lawn and whether or not to apply it, we’ve got the answers. Lime is a natural soil amendment that can be applied as often as once per year depending on pH levels and other factors. It’s used primarily to bring acidic soils closer to neutral so they can receive nutrients from fertilizers more easily.
This article has hopefully helped you to learn about lime, how to apply it, and whether using garden lime is right for your specific situation and lawn. So if you think your lawn needs some attention, consider picking up a bag of this miracle product before summer ends and watch how quickly its benefits work wonders for your yard!
