Homeowners can buy a test kit from a local garden center. You can also test Charlotte soil by requesting a pH kit from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Storm Water Services , where you mail a sample of your soil to the county. The county will then provide you with a detailed soil report, which is much more precise and accurate than a store-bought pH kit.
Testing the pH gives you the information needed to determine how much lime to add to the soil. Prep the Lawn for its Lime Application — Aerate lawns before lime lawn application. Doing so allows the lime to enter the soil, especially in clay soils found throughout Charlotte. Because lime helps the grass roots work more efficiently, the lime must seep deep into the soil rather than land on the grass surface or thatch.
The aeration process allows the lime to blend with the soil. Apply Lime Lawn Treatment — Lime is applied to dry lawn; mixed into the top 5 inches of soil. Generally, the root zone for grasses is less than five inches deep. The best tools to use are either a drop or rotary spreader.
Never apply lime to the lawn by hand. Lye within the lime can burn you if it touches your skin. You also want to use protective equipment such as a respiratory mask to keep the dust out of your lungs.
For these reasons, many folks go with a landscaping professional that already has the lime and proper equipment to safely apply it to the lawn area. Water the Lime In — The last step is to water the lawn. You want to immediately rinse any extra lime off the blades of grass since the lime can cause them to burn. The best time for a lawn lime application in Charlotte is during the fall or winter. Most landscape professionals will test soil pH in spring and then apply lime in winter or fall.
Lime can take several months to break down and change soil pH after being used. Since you add lime during the colder months, it can work into the soil and change the soil pH before the roots become active in spring. If you add lime during the warmer months of the year, it can damage the lawn. You always want to add lime before the warmer spring weather. In fact, the fall and winter freeze-thaw cycles, as well as the winter wet season, help break down lime so it becomes part of the soil.
If your lawn is already stressed, do not add lime. It will further damage the grass. The same rule applies to a dormant lawn. Once the lawn area is limed, you may need to repeat that process every years.
Sometimes a bit longer, but that decision always begins with a soil pH test. Lime lawn treatments in Charlotte should always be a proactive measure, meaning you should only decide to lime your lawn once you know what your soil pH is. If you apply lime without checking the initial pH and raise it too high or too low, the lawn will suffer.
The general rule of thumb is that 50lbs of lime will dress 1, sqft of a lawn. The soil pH will also give you a more precise indication of how much lime you need. Aside from testing your soil pH, these are some other signs that you may need a lime lawn treatment for your Charlotte yard.
But how do you tell if your lawn needs lime? Here is how to tell if your yard needs lime:. Cultivating a healthy lawn starts from the ground up literally. The more acidic your soil is, the less nutrients will be available — providing the perfect environment for grass to die and weeds to thrive.
On a scale of , 0 is the most acidic and 14 is the most basic, but plants like somewhere in the middle. Ideally, you want to be somewhere between a 6. Consider aerating your lawn before liming to ensure the soil amendment reaches deep into the soil and produces the best results! A 40 pound bag will cover about 1, square feet of yard, so plan accordingly based on the size of your lawn. Use a drop or rotary spreader to effectively blanket the grass with a layer of lime — never use your hands because it can irritate the skin.
This process works best when done in the early spring. But, lime should never be applied to a wet lawn, so check the forecast before planning a lime application.
For more information on when to lime, check out our blog, Benefits of a Spring Lime Application. Still wondering how to tell if your lawn needs lime? Enter your Neighborhood Discount Code. Neutral pH is from a scale of 6. When soils are tested, and show that they are in the acidic range, adding lime is the appropriate soil amendment to add. If soils are in the alkaline range, then sulfur should be added.
A soil test from a university extension service or accredited soil test lab is the best way to determine the current pH level. In most cases, these labs will also provide the amount of lime or sulfur needed per 1, sq. There are do-it-yourself pH test kits that come with litmus paper that will provide an approximate pH level based on a color chart.
These are not very accurate and may or may not provide information on how much lime or sulfur to apply. There are parts of the US where pH levels are usually low or usually high.
0コメント