You hear about it a lot from your neighbors, friends & families, and so on. Of course, lime treatment benefits your lawn in many ways. But you have to determine first whether your lawn needs it or not, right?
You only need it when you are sure the soil of your lawn is acidic. When the soil is acidic, the lawn grass can’t get all the nutrients to flourish. So, lime treatment can solve the problem.
But how do you know it’s acidic? In this article, I will talk about the lime treatment and how it can benefit your lawn. For more lawn tips, visit DenResidence.com
Factors To Check Before Lime Treatment
There are some surefire signs to observe first before you apply lime. Here is a list of them:
- Your lawn should be green. If it’s yellow instead, it’s a surefire sign.
- Your lawn is full of weeds. The acidic soil is an ideal place for weeds to grow.
- If applying fertilizer does not improve the lawn condition.
- Your lawn is full of moss. Just like weeds, moss likes acidic soil to grow.
- If the soil of your lawn is sandy. Sandy soil is almost every time acidic. Just like sandy soil, the clay soil also is acidic and may need a lime treatment (though not frequent).
- Even if the soil is not sandy or clay; just regular, over time, it becomes acidic. So, testing the ph level is a must.
- Get a ph level test kit. If the ph level is less than the ideal range of 6.2-7.0, it’s a clear sign.
- If you are living in an area where heavy rainfall is a frequent thing.
Lime To Improve Soil Quality
Even after doing everything right, if you don’t have a lush lawn, maybe it’s the soil hurting the growth of your lawn grass. If your lawn soil becomes acidic, no matter how much lawn food you apply to the lawn, it won’t make much of a difference.
But why the soil gets acidic in the first place?
The soil can become acidic naturally over time. Even the rainfall or excessive irrigation may lead to acidic soil.
For a quick result, many gardeners apply nitrogen fertilizers to their lawns. This too will make your soil acidic.
As you can see, no matter whether you apply fertilizer or not, soon or later, the soil will get acidic which in turn will be problematic for the lawn growth.
So, why the acidity or alkalinity affects the lawn grass?
Well, it affects the microbial activity of your lawn soil severely. That’s why no matter what you apply, the nutrients can’t reach your lawn grass and other surrounding plants.
In such circumstances, you must alter the ph balance of your soil before you apply anything else. Only a lime treatment can do that for you. It will bring back all the lost nutrients!
But it does not happen overnight. It takes months to alter the ph level of your soil by applying lime. But it’s highly effective to repair the damages of your lawn grass.
Types of Lime
After examining the soil or even testing the ph level of your soil, let’s say you have determined to apply lime. Now, you have to determine which type of lime you need to apply. There are basically two types of lime:
The first one is the Dolomitic limestone. It adds magnesium to the soil of your lawn. Another one is calcitic limestone and by the name, as you can guess, it adds calcium carbonate to the soil.
Both of them are available in pulverized, granular, pelletized, or hydrated forms. And both of them increase the ph level of your lawn soil effectively.
If you need the lime to act faster, you should go for the pulverized and hydrated lime. Both of them are fast-acting.
Whichever type or form you choose, just make sure you apply them deep into the soil. That way it will be more effective.
Conclusion
The soil has to be fertile to have a lush garden. As you already know, that may not be the case for everyone due to various reasons. Only a lime treatment can be the game-changer.
