Green Bag It: How to Compost your Grass Clippings

Composting your grass clippings is not a difficult process, though it may require a bit more work than you might think and these clippings can sometimes cause problems in your compost pile if not properly composted. Taking a few simple precautions will prevent your grass from turning into a smelly and slimy problem.

Grasscycling is the easiest way to deal with your grass clippings. With grasscycling, you just live the grass clippings on the lawn. If you lave grass clippings where they fall naturally from the mower, they will act like any other natural fertilizer. This will save you money on fertilizer and time on bagging or moving grass cuttings. Any grass mower can become a grasscycler – all you need to do is remove the grass catcher from your lawn mower. You will need to make sure you are mowing when the grass is dry to prevent the old clippings from clogging up your lawn mower and keep the blade of your mower sharp. Let the grass clipping lie like this is the simplest way to deal with them, though it may not be practical if you have young children or pets.

If the idea of grasscycling does not appeal to you, then here is the proper way to compost your grass clippings.

Your freshly trimmed grass has more moisture and a much higher nitrogen level than most other garden materials. Freshly mowed grass can often clump together and this is a problem because there is no room for oxygen to get in. If you compost your grass clippings like this, you may find that you have a serious odor problem to deal with. If you follow the following process, you should be able to reap the benefits of adding fresh grass clippings to your compost and also avoid any sort of odor problem. Grass can also develop a white mold if there is no air getting in.

To start with, you want to add high carbon materials (also referred to as browns) to your compost pile. These types of materials include wood chips, leaves and broken up sticks. Adding browns to your compost will prevent the grass clippings from clumping up the compost and will help oxygen circulate. You want to alternate your layers – a layer of grass clippings and then one of browns.

You can also get the oxygen in your compost pile circulate by aerating it. Aerating or oxygenating your compost pile involves the turning of the material. If you are going to be adding grass clippings to your pile then you need to make sure that you are aerating your compost pile on a regular basis. If your pile is mainly made up of grass clippings then there is nothing for the gas has nothing to ignite and the pile turns into a disgusting slimy mess.

If you are going to be continually composting your grass clippings then you are going to have more grass clippings than other materials in your compost pile. What is the solution? The solution is obviously multiple compost piles. You’ll go through a process all summer where you are rotating between the piles and then consolidating piles as they become more manageable.

If you do not want to have two or three compost piles on the go, you can also try baking your grass clippings in the sun for a day before adding them to your compost pile. You can spread them on your driveway or any other flat surface for at least a day to prevent the clippings from souring up your compost pile.

If you have recently applied pesticides or herbicides to your lawn, then you do not want to add those grass clippings to your compost pile until the rain has washed them clean. You really need to be careful about adding clippings to your pile that have come in contact with chemicals like these.

Another tip that you might find useful is to add lime to your compost pile (or grass heap if it’s mainly made up of grass). This will kick start the decomposing process and prevent mold from forming and your pile from developing a nasty odor.

Follow these simple guidelines and you should have no problem turning your old grass clippings into compost that will benefit your whole garden.

Green with Envy – What’s the Best Lawn Grass for You

Lawn care is not only hard work, but it can also be very confusing. If you live in a suburban neighborhood, you know how much peer pressure there is to have the perfect lawn, but that there is a lot to keep track of in the process. You have to know when to fertilize, which fertilizer to use for the time of year, and then there is the decision of which grass type you are going to use for your lawn. There are many factors that may determine what type of grass you want to seed in your lawn, but the first will likely be the climate in which you live.

For instance, if you live in the southern United States, where the weather is warm almost year around, you will likely want to plant what is called a warm season grass. Warm season grasses do their active growing roughly between the months of April and October. Warm season grasses, as you may guess, prefer warmer climates. For proper growth of warm season grasses, your area needs soil temperatures to be around 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Be careful; don’t make the mistake of trying to plant a warm season grass if you live too far north. The grasses are genetically bred to grow in warm climates and will not be able to survive a Midwestern or northern winter. Bermuda grass is an example of warm season grasses.

If, however, you live in the Midwest or northern part of the country, then you will want to think about planting what is called a cool season grass. Cool season grasses do most of their growing in late spring and early fall. Because they are bred for cooler weather, their growth usually slows down considerably during the heat of the summer. The best time to plant your cool season grass is the early fall. If, however, you want to plant at a different time of year, be careful that you do so when soil temperatures are around 50 degrees Fahrenheit, which would likely be in the spring. Kentucky bluegrass is cool season grass for example.

A third option, and one that is best for beginners, is to plant a grass seed mixture. The mixture will contain a number of different grass species in it. Planting a mixture will help you to avoid disease in your lawn. Most fungi that attack lawns are specific to certain species of grass. If there are various species growing in the yard, it is hard for fungi or other diseases to spread from one plant to another when there are other species buffering them from one another. Mixed lawns will tend to adjust themselves to differences in the soil makeup or sun exposure in different parts of the lawn. All in all, a mixture is lower maintenance for a lawn care beginner.

Another kind of grass you will want to think about for your lawn is not one you would make your base grass in the lawn, but can be a big part of the overall look of your landscaping. That type of grass, of course, is what is called ornamental grass. Ornamental grasses are becoming an increasingly popular way to improve the look of lawns and landscaping all over the country. While ornamental grasses can be grown from seed, the most popular way of raising it is to buy pots of the grass. Each pot can be divided up to make more grass, and if you are savvy with grass you will be able to grow all of the ornamental grass you could want.

Growing and maintaining a lawn can actually be stressful if you don’t know what you are doing. When it comes to seeding a lawn, the number of species and options in the grass seed aisle of your local garden store can be intimidating. However, if you educate yourself through a little research, you can make good decisions about the grass to plant in your lawn. Talk to a representative at your local nursery or garden store and find out what is best. If you decide to go with a mixture, the same representative can help you select the mixture that will work best for you and require the least maintenance.

How Low Can You Go? Why Cutting your Lawn Short is Hazardous for its Health

Cutting your lawn, and understanding the science behind when and how to cut your grass is one of the important parts to maintenance for your lawn. Cutting at the right time and knowing the right length to cut can help with several things in your lawn, while not doing this can cause more problems and maintenance than was expected.

It is said that you should allow the grass to stay at an average of two to two and a half inches. When you mow, you should only remove the top third of the blade. When your grass is a little over three inches high to three and a half inches at most, is the best time to mow your grass. You can either estimate these heights, or you can set your lawn mower to be able to cut this much. There are special made lawnmowers that will help to determine the length in which you should cut your grass with.

The measurements that have been made for cutting grass have been averaged out for several reasons. The main purpose of this is that allowing this much length in your grass allows nutrients to continue to move through each blade. When the blades of grass are growing, they take a certain amount of soil, water and sun in order to grow properly. When you cut the tips of this off, they have to adjust how much of the nutrients they should continue to get. If this change is too drastic, it will cause problems with the grass.

This moves into the second reason as why you should not cut the blades of grass too short. Because of the change in size and nutrients, cutting blades too short will stress out the plants. This is because they have to adjust to the different length. The second type of stress that they receive from the shorter blades is if the weather is hotter, the blades will not have enough protection provided from the length that they once had. Too much of a difference in blade length can then cause problems by either causing brown patches, wilting, or grass burn.

A third reason why it is always good to only cut this much off, and consistently, is because each time you cut your grass, it grows back thicker and faster. If you only cut the grass by a third, it will continue to be able to receive the same amount of nutrients and sun. By doing this, it will be able to grow back at a faster pace, turning even more green and filling out space more than it did before.

On the maintenance side, you won’t have to remove as many grass clippings when you don’t cut as much off. It is known to be healthy to leave some of the grass clippings that you have cut on the grass, as this provides more nutrients as well as protection to the growth of the other grass blades. With this in mind, if you leave too many grass clippings, it will take away the sunlight and water that the plants are supposed to be receiving.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the grass should not be mowed when the grass is wet. This causes a spreading of diseases, as the dampness that is on the blades of grass can not be evaporated, and eventually begins to mold or turn into a disease. Mowing with wet grass may also cause you to slip and injure yourself. The best time to mow a lawn is in the early evening. This will prevent the grass from getting stressed. The sun in the afternoon usually stresses out the grass and the mowing in the afternoon will only add to this.

Grass should always remain at a length between two and three inches. When it begins to move past three inches is the best time to mow the grass. Beyond this, you should never take off more than one third of the blade. If grass is not mowed at the right height, it can cause problems with stress, nutrients, and diseases spreading throughout your lawn. By cutting your grass at the right height, and mowing when it is about three inches tall, you will not only keep your lawn healthy, but you will also provide a better looking, greener lawn.

How to Make the Grass Greener on YOUR Side of the Fence

As the summer season approaches, many will be considering the care of their lawn. In deciding the maintenance for your lawn, you can also decide to allow your grass to become greener and healthier than what it has been in the past. The reason why some lawns are greener than others is mostly because of the amount of nutrients that the yard is receiving. The way that lawns are cared for adds onto the green that they are able to produce in return. This maintenance allows nutrients from the soil to be given to the grass. By watering your lawn properly, mowing and aerating your yard, you will be able to make a greener looking lawn.

One of the factors which may be adding to your grass not being as green is the location where it is at. If your lawn is shaded by trees, or other outside factors, it will be harder for it to receive the right amount of sunlight each day. This can eventually lead to the grass dimming out. If a tree is preventing sunlight from reaching the grass, you can trim the branches to allow more sunlight to come in.

Another thing to consider is how much traffic is moving through your lawn. By people moving over your grass, it causes the aeration that is needed through the soil to not move right. This causes the grass to have a lack of oxygen and may also add onto water moving into the soil as much as it should. You can solve this by aerating your lawn. If you notice that the soil is compact, or if there are flat places on the lawn, then you should aerate your lawn. Make sure not to do this in the middle of summer, as it will stress out the grass. In preparation for your yard to become green, it is best to aerate your lawn at least in the spring, and possibly in the fall.

Making your grass greener also includes watering the grass at the right times and with the right amount of water. When watering your lawn, it is best to do so in the early morning, as this will allow the water to move into the soil instead of evaporating by the heat of the sun. It is also important to make sure that you are watering it evenly throughout your yard, instead of in patches. An easy way to do this is to use an irrigation system for your yard. It is also important to make sure that the soil is not staying to wet, or becoming to dry between the days that you water. This will help in making sure that your grass becomes greener.

Another factor in making sure that your grass becomes greener is making sure that lawn thatch and debris aren’t taking over your yard. This may mean raking your lawn consistently and removing thatch that is over a half-inch in your yard. This will allow more aeration to move through your grass, as well as allow the water and nutrients to move freely through the grass and soil.

The soil that you are using for your yard is an important factor to consider in making sure that your lawn stays green. The soil should have the right pH balance, as well as the right texture with the grains. If it doesn’t, you can easily add compost or fertilizer to balance out the soil. This will help with giving the grass the right amount of nutrients, which will help it to stay greener. Depending on the type of soil, or the problems you see from the grass, as well as the time of year which you will be applying the fertilizer, will determine the type of fertilizer that you should get for the lawn.

Another important consideration in keeping your grass greener is when to mow your grass. You should remain aware of the mowing height and clippings that you should use. If you cut your grass too short, it may stress out your grass. If you don’t cut your grass enough, it may cause problems with water and sunlight moving into the soil.

Aeration, proper nutrients, the environment around the lawn, as well as mowing will all help your lawn to become green and stay greener. By keeping the maintenance in mind with your lawn, you will easily be able to produce a green lawn.

Kentucky Blue Grass – It’s not Just a Type of Music

Kentucky bluegrass, as a species of grass, is native to most of Europe, the northern parts of Asia, as well s the mountainous regions of Morocco and Algeria. The grass, though common now in the cool humid parts of the United States, is not even native to North America. It came to this country along with colonists from Europe, who brought grass seed mixtures. The species took to the climate of New England well, and is now found throughout much of the modern United States.

Kentucky bluegrass is one of the most recognizable grasses in the United States. It grows from about one and one half to two feet in height. It is recognizable because of its boat shaped tips on the blades. The growth of Kentucky bluegrass varies with the time of year and is triggered by the length of the days rather than the temperatures of the days.

If you wish to plant Kentucky bluegrass you must know that it requires approximately two to three pounds of seed per 1,000 square feet of land. Fortunately it can be seeded any time of the year, but will grow best if you plant in the spring or fall. Once planted, you should water your bluegrass at least a couple of times a day for the first two weeks, and maybe even three times depending on the weather. You can cut back on the watering once the seeds start to produce visible sprouts.

Compared to many other grasses, and specifically warm season grasses, Kentucky bluegrass requires a lot of water. To stay healthy it will need as much as two inches of water every week. That should keep the grass green and bright throughout the summer. In order to help the roots to grow deeper and hardier, water no less than an inch on any single day of watering. If your Kentucky bluegrass happens to go dormant during a drought, it will need only about an inch of water every two or three weeks. That will keep the crowns of the grass alive so that when rainfall does come the grass will recover fast.

Kentucky bluegrass requires a fairly large amount of Nitrogen during most every year of its life. The first year, when you plant it, it will likely need five or six pounds of nitrogen to grow properly. After that, you can probably get away with cutting that back by about half. In order to avoid burning and to maintain convenience, you may want to use some sort of slow release nitrogen source. It can be applied more liberally and less frequently, making it an especially attractive option if you are a beginner in lawn care.

Like most pure bred lawn grasses, Kentucky bluegrass is susceptible to pests. The weed problems you may encounter with your bluegrass are dandelions, clover, crabgrass, and annual bluegrass. These can generally be controlled with pre-emerge herbicides. As far as insects, billbugs, sod webworms, and white grubs all enjoy a good Kentucky bluegrass meal. Monitor the insect situations diligently and apply pesticides in a timely manner, with care not to over do it. Bluegrass may also get hit with disease. To prevent this problem, you can seed with a mixture added to your bluegrass or use varying strains of Kentucky bluegrass that have resistance to different diseases. If your soil happens to be alkaline, and you did not have it tested in advance, your Kentucky bluegrass could develop iron chlorosis, which is yellowing between the veins of the grass.

Kentucky bluegrass, because the state is named for it and because it can be found all over the United States, is one of the most well known grasses around. It is also very recognizable by its unique blade and bright color. Native to the middle United States where the weather is cool and humid, the grass is not as difficult to plant and maintain as its reputation would imply. Plant your bluegrass in the correct density to ensure good cover, seed it either in the spring or the fall when the days are the proper length to ensure a good root system, and be sure to get the newly seeded area significant light, frequent water, and proper care and you can have a beautiful bluegrass lawn that you can be proud of.

Lawn Cutting is an Art Form—How to Cut your Lawn Properly

I bet you don’t think of mowing your yard as an art form. A chore has to be done if you have any lawn at all. It takes about 30 minutes to mow your patch of lawn, and most likely you don’t consider it a form of art. To have a healthy, hearty growing lawn, you do need how to cut your lawn properly. Lawn mowing can give you a great workout, be relaxing and gives you a good feeling when your lawn is freshly mowed and looking neat and tidy.

When do you mow? That seems like a simple question but if you’ve been following the same mowing, routine you may not have thought about it. You should never mow when your lawn is wet. Grass doesn’t bag or mulch properly and it can cause clumping of the lawn. Schedule your lawn mowing for late afternoon or evening, not only will it be cooler but also it will have had plenty of time to dry from the morning dew or after early morning watering. Another drawback to mowing while damp is that it can spread lawn fungus very quickly. You can do the same thing when the lawn is dry but is much more likely to happen when mowing a wet lawn.

You don’t have to mow every Saturday. Some grasses will flourish during the summer months and may need to be mowed every 3-4 days. On the other hand, if there has been little rainfall, you may not need to mow more than once a month. Grass has its peak-growing season and you will need to adapt your lawn-mowing schedule to your grass. Sorry, your grass will not make any concessions for you!

What happens if you have been away from home and your lawn is overgrown when you return home? The worst possible thing you could do is to get out the mower and cut it down to the standard height you normally mow it to. What you should do is to mow one third of the height at a time. If your lawn is overgrown by more than six inches, cut two inches off and let the lawn mower set for a couple of days. This will allow your lawn to recover before you bring it out and cut it again. If you do cut it too short, watch closely for weeds and give it plenty of water. Weeds will crop up fast in a scalped lawn.

Do you mow your lawn in the same pattern and direction every time? If you do, you could be creating streaks and striped lines that will grow back irregularly and look bad. It is recommended to change your mowing direction each time you mow. One time go side to side, the next time go from top to bottom. This cross cutting will help your lawn to grow and won’t be matted or trampled in the same place each time you mow.

Should you bag or mulch? That’s another good question. You will need to have a lawn mower that will mulch with plenty of horsepower to cut and essentially re-cut the grass to drop back into the lawn. Clippings are a perfectly balanced, slow release, non chemical lawn fertilizer. Best of all, it will reduce your need for fertilizer by 50 percent and its free and natural. Mulching your lawn does increase the development of thatch in your lawn. Thatch build up is harmful to your lawn as well. Make sure that your blades are sharp. Try to sharpen them at least two times during the mowing season. This will keep your mulching mower working more efficiently. If you aren’t keeping your blades sharp, then you are tearing the blades of grass and not cutting them. That will cause your lawn to look ragged and increase its susceptibility to disease. If you notice thatch is building up you may want to bag your clippings occasionally. Mulching is recommended during heat waves, after fertilization and during times of drought. It will provide the soil with increased cover to hold in what moisture it does receive. Clippings can contain as much as 80% water and 5% nitrogen with other nutrients found in small quantities and will be continually fertilizing your lawn.

Lawn Lingo—Ten Basic Facts You Should Know

Maybe you’re a first time homeowner and you don’t know a thing about taking care of a lawn. You look at the neighbors lawns and they are beautifully manicured and a beautiful shade of green with nary a brown spot to be found. You think to yourself, “Can I have that kind of lawn?” Sure, you can. There are just a few basic facts that you need to know.

Lawn Seed: You will need to know what type of grass will grow in your climate zone. Not every strain of grass will grow in cooler climates and some won’t thrive in the southern or warmer zone. Investigate what type of seed you need for your soil as well, and is it sunny, shady or a mixture of both? Read the labels on the seed packages; there is important information for you there. Prepare your seedbed and use high quality lawn seed. Re-seed annually and always repair bare patches as soon as you notice them. While you are spreading the seed, shake the box well so the seed mixture is well mixed.

Mowing: Yes there are good and bad ways to mow your lawn. If you are in a drought condition, you shouldn’t even mow, as it would take its toll on the health of your lawn. Mow regularly and avoid cutting too low. Don’t think just because you cut it lower you won’t have to mow as often. If you cut it too low, you leave it wide open to burning or getting taken over by heartier weeds and lawn disease.

Water: Your lawn needs water to thrive just as you do. If you are experiencing a real dry season, be sure that you water your lawn frequently. That goes along with not cutting it too short when you mow.

Fertilizing: The products that are on the market now are normally combined as a fertilizer and a weed killer. Your lawn needs to be fertilized in spring and summer as well as in late fall. Use a fertilizer that is rich in nitrogen. Use a spreader and be sure to spread your fertilizer and weed control evenly. Always fill your spreader on the driveway or somewhere else, never on your lawn. That can cause an excess of fertilizer to fall into your grass and leave a burnt spot.

Raking: We all know it is important to rake leaves in the fall or to mulch them. Leaving dead leaves on the lawn could give you ugly looking brown spots when the grass starts turning green in the spring. You also need to rake out old grass, or thatch, during the spring and again in the fall just before the grass goes dormant.

Trim: Yes it is a little extra work to trim the yard but it also gives the lawn a beautiful finished look. A weed trimmer is important to have if you have articles in your lawn that you can’t totally get to with a mower. In addition, if you have a fence it will help your yard look trim and neat and professionally finished.

Weed control: Weed control is a very important factor in having a beautiful lawn. A four-leaf clover might be lucky, but it’s still a weed. Dandelions, broadleaf weeds, and other types of weeds can attack a week lawn. There are very good weed control products on the market today and they are usually noted what type of weed the product was developed to get rid of.

Pests: Your lawn might be infested and you not even realize it. Two types of pests, those that exist above the ground, and those existing below ground. Above ground pests would include the chinch bug, cutworms, armyworms and green bugs. One of the most prevalent below ground pests would be the white grub. Using the right type of pesticide easily destroys all of these.

Tools: Some tools will be a must when you have a lawn. One of course is a mower. You can pick the type of mower that best fits your needs from a hand pushed mower to a self-propelled mower all the way up to a riding mower. Along with a mower, you might consider having a weed blower or vacuum, an edger, a trimmer for a more professional looking lawn and a simple rake. The rake will be used in both early spring and in fall to remove thatch, dead grasses, and raking the leaves in the fall.

Lawn Disease: Yes even lawns get sick and end up with some unusual diseases. Lawn fungus can show up as well as mushrooms. Yes even mushrooms, there seemed to be an abundance of those in my area this year and it did seem strange to see them growing in my lawn. Other types of disease are snow mold, found in the colder climates when the snow sits on the lawn for an extended amount of time. Brown patches will start in a circle and often spread outwards in a circular or horseshoe pattern. Dollar spots are brown small spots shaped like a silver dollar and usually brown or straw colored. These can be found in lawns with a low amount of nitrogen.

Laying Down the Lawn – How to Turn that Dirt Patchinto a Perfectly Green Lawn

There are several different ways to have a lawn in your yard. One way is through the use of laying down sod, which is pre-grown grass. While this is easier and faster, it is not the only way to turn your yard into a lawn. You can also plant grass through seeds. This is a cheaper way to have a lawn and will allow you to have a different grass type than what is available with sod. If you decide to have a lawn that requires seeds, then it is best to prepare your lawn so that your seeds will grow more effectively.

The best time to plant seeds for grass will be determined by the climate in which you live. However, as a general rule, most lawns shouldn’t be planted in the middle of summer, as the sun will cause the seeds to overheat, stress and die. You also will not be able to plant your lawn in the middle of winter, as the ground will most likely be frozen and if not, the proper nutrients for your lawn will be harder to maintain. It is said that either in early spring or early fall are the best time to begin your new yard.

The first thing to do when you decide to put in seed for a lawn is to make sure that the ground is clear for the seeds. This includes digging up weeds that may be growing in your yard and turning the soil so that old roots and weeds don’t have a chance to re-grow. This will not only help in getting rid of the old weeds or lawn, but will also help to move the nutrients in the soil to be more effective.

The next thing that should be done in order to have a healthy lawn from seed is to make sure that the soil has the right nutrients and right pH. You can easily test your soil to make sure that it is made of the right components. The first way to do this is to get a pH tester. You can also determine the type of your soil by seeing the thickness of the grains. If they are too thick, or clay like, or too thin, similar to sand, it won’t allow the seeds to get the right amount of nutrients. After you determine what type of soil you have, you can put fertilizer or extra nutrients in the ground to balance out the pH and type of soil. If your soil is claylike, you can break this up by using a tiller. This will cause the clay to break and become more even.

When you put the fertilizer or compost in the ground, you should make sure to use a tiller so that it will be spread evenly. Raking soil so that it is even, as well as moving extra rocks and debris from the soil will help in making sure that your soil is healthy and a good place to grow the grass. Before you plant any grass, it is important to make sure that the nutrients, as well as the soil is even all the way across the lawn. This will prevent problems when your grass begins to grow.

The easiest way to spread the seeds through your yard is by using a seed spreader. It is said that it is easiest to spread only ¼ of the seeds each time across the lawn, and each time go in a different direction. This will help to spread the seeds evenly. After this, you can rake the seeds into the ground. The seeds should be slightly covered by the soil so that they will receive the right amount of nutrients and not become stressed out and die from the heat or the sun.

In order for your lawn to grow right, it is important to water your lawn consistently. You should begin this as soon as your seeds are covered under the ground. Because they are not rooted into the ground yet, it is best to use a light spray. It is best to water your seeds consistently every day before they begin to sprout. After they begin to come out of the ground, you can change the watering to only twice a day. After about six weeks, you can change the watering to only during the morning.

By starting out your lawn with the right nutrients and with healthy soil, it will be ensured that you will have a lawn growing in a short amount of time. Maintaining and taking care of your grass will help your lawn to become green and healthy through the summer season.

Lime for your Lawn—How to Know When you Need It

Why do lawns need lime and how do you know when you need it? I’ll try to answer some of these questions for you. The first fact you should know is why lime is used on lawns. Soil ph is a measure of the soils acidity or alkalinity. If your ph level is below 7.0 then your soil is considered acidic and if it’s above that number, it is considered alkaline. A desirable ph level is between 6.0 and 7.0. Lime conditions the soil and will improve the growth of turf and make it healthier. With a good ph factor a lawn has, less of a chance of loss of nutrients and thatch is reduced. Soil acidity increases with an increasing rainfall.

Some of the things that can cause acidity in lawn, other than rainfall, some fertilizers also leach the nutrients from the soil. Other factors which cause acidity are irrigating with water that has a high acid content and decomposition of soil organic matter.

The only way you can determine if your soil needs liming and how much to apply is to do a soil test. A soil test kit can be found at your local garden center to test your lawn’s ph level but it won’t tell you how much lime to use to make your lawn healthier. The only way to determine how much lime you need is to have an actual soil test by the county extension office. If they don’t have the facilities to test there, they can tell you where to send your soil for testing. They should be able to tell you how to collect the soil needed for testing. You will receive a test report when the test is completed, and in that report there is a section titled Lime. If there is a zero in that section, you don’t need any lime at all. If you see a letter “T” or “M” with a number following, that indicates you need lime. The letter “M” stands for pounds per 1000 square feet. Homeowners will normally not see the letter “T” because it is the indicator of tons per acre.

There are a couple of different forms of lime. You will find palletized lime or powder lime. Pellet sized lime is easier to apply and creates much less mess. Powdered lime, even though it is less expensive it is very messy and hard to spread. It has the consistency of baking flour. The finer the particle size of lime the faster it will have an affect on soil ph. Applications of lime are best when mixed with the soil with a roto-tiller or using a core aeration machine that pulls out soil plugs.

It is recommended that lime application and fertilizer applications be separated by at least two weeks. There really isn’t a specific time to apply lime. It can be applied anytime during the growing season. It should not be applied when the grass is wilted or frost covered. It will help improve turf growth because grass grows better when the soil ph is improved. Lime is completely natural, as it is crushed limestone. Homeowners mistakenly think that they need to apply lime every year to keep the necessary ph level. There are negative aspects of creating a too high ph level as well as of having too low a level. A high ph level prevents nutrients such as nitrogen phosphorus; potassium sulfur and other nutrients are less available. With these nutrients less available, it makes your lawn less vigorous and healthy. Once your ph level is adjusted to the proper number, you can maintain the correct level by combining one pound of lime to every pound of fertilizer used. You only need to have your soil tested once every three years or so after, it’s initially tested.

The question has been asked if liming your lawn will eliminate moss. It won’t do that; the only way it helps eliminate moss is by allowing the turf to grow stronger and healthier.

Any way you look at it, lime is an essential ingredient for a healthy lawn. If your lawn is not healthy and has an abundance of weeds, test your soil. If you find your ph level is not at a high enough standard for a healthy lawn, then you can use lime to help your lawn grow green and strong. Remember sturdier grass and healthier lawns are a deterrent to those nasty weeds we don’t like to see cropping up in our yards.