Lime Application

Lawn Talk with Harold Enger - Podcast Transcription

Episode: Lime Application 

Tim Kauffold: Welcome to Lawn Talk, I'm your host Tim Kauffold. Lawn Talk is a series of conversations with Spring-Green lawn care professionals. Joining me is Harold Enger. Harold has worked in the Green Industry for nearly 30 years and is a Certified Turf grass and Ornamental Landscape professional. Today on Lawn Talk we're going to discuss the importance of lime and applying lime to your lawn. How do I know if my lawn needs a lawn application?

Harold Enger: Spring Green has done soil testing in a patch to determine the proper pH throughout the different areas that we treat. It all depends on that particular soil and the pH is whether the soil is very acidic or very alkaline.  And for the most part the only time you really need to add lime is in soils that are very acidic because it has a low pH and the lime will actually raise the pH to allow the materials that we apply to become more available to the plant.

We know where those areas are for the most part—the Pacific Northwest, the South, the Southeast, parts of the Midwest, but not every lawn needs lime and that's why soil testing is a good thing to do if you've never had lime, but if you do, call your Spring Green professional. We are familiar enough with each of our areas that we take care of that we know whether lawns need lime or not.

Tim: Can it be detrimental to my lawn if I apply lime when I don't really need it?

Harold: It's not going to burn it, let's say, but it's probably, if you have a very alkaline soil and you add additional lime, you are just making your soil more alkaline, which again can reduce the effectiveness of the materials that you apply, whether fertilizers and so forth and keep them from working and being available to the plant.

In very extreme cases, yes of course anytime you go way over you can hurt a lawn—you can hurt anything if you do too much of one thing, but for the most part you want to only add lime if you have an acidic soil.

Tim: Okay and when's the best time to do a lime application?

Harold: Again this is one of those things that you can get done anytime of the year. It's a relatively mild product to apply, but we generally do it in the spring or in the fall, but it can be applied throughout the year.

Tim: And are there a certain prescribed number of applications to do to a lawn?

Harold: For the most part one time is more than adequate for most lawns. I've never seen anybody have to do more than one application of lime per year. And the amount to put down is anywhere from 10-to 20-to 30-pounds of lime per thousand square feet.

But again your Spring Green Professional will be able to tell you what is the best for your area and what is going to give you the best results.

Tim: And is there anything we can see in the lawn. I mean I know we've talked about the need to test the soil, but as a homeowner are there a couple of clues for me to look for that I may be too acidic.

Harold: Usually if you are getting very slow response to any kind of fertilization that you do on the lawn. It's just not turning green. It's kind of a yellowish look that's one way to determine whether you have a low pH and need to add lime to raise that pH up to a neutral level, which is 6.5 to 7.0, but for the most part, it's not as visual as you would see with an insect or disease, but it's an overall general yellowing or poor response is how you could usually tell.

If you're unsure, you have a soil test done or discuss it with your Spring Green professional.

Tim: If you would like to know more about services available from your local Spring-Green lawn care professional, visit the Spring-Green web site, at Spring-Green.com.  There you will find more detailed information, including how to contact a Spring-Green lawn care professional in your area. This has been Lawn Talk, an on-going series for homeowners looking to protect and enjoy their outdoor investment, brought to you by Spring-Green Lawn Care and its many local lawn care professionals nationwide.

Find more episodes at Spring-Green.com or on iTunes under Lawn Talk.

Thanks and have a green day!

For additional information, visit our lime treatments page.