What Happens If You Put Too Much Lime On Lawn?
So you have added lime to your lawn expecting it to be the answer to all your problems and it to turn your lawn into the beautiful lush green that people advise you it would. The opposite has happened you have added lime to your lawn and it is actually deteriorating and becoming a worse condition and before you added lime to your lawn.
In this article, I am going to answer the question of what happens if you put too much lime on your lawn.
Read on and you will find out why you should be careful when you decide to add lime to your lawn and what to do if you have messed up and added too much lime.
When you put too much lime on your lawn it will not be able to absorb the nutrients it needs to stay healthy and it will quickly start to turn yellow. You need to add horticultural sulfur to counter this problem or you can wait it out and it will fix itself after several months.
What Are The Signs Of Too Much Lime On Your Lawn
The main thing you will notice if you have added too much lime to your lawn is the fact it is now turning yellow.
If you have added too much lime you may have raised the pH level from a low level that is acidic up to a high level that is alkaline and ideal level for grass is a natural level of around 6-7 pH.
If you have added too much lime to your lawn then the problem is probably caused by your grass getting a lack of nutrients it requires.
For grass to thrive and grow green it needs to have access to iron, potassium, and nitrogen if you have added too much lime to your lawn the grass won’t be able to access these vital nutrients and it will start to turn yellow if it is lacking even just one of these nutrients.
To find out the best time of year to add lime to your lawn Click Here.
How Do You Fix Too Much Lime In The Soil
So you have added too much lime to your soil and your lawn has really started to deteriorate, should you be panicking or is there actually a way to fix this situation and get that lush green lawn you were planning on creating when you added the lime.
When you add lime to a lawn that is too acidic for optimal grass growth, what it does is raise the pH level to a more neutral level but if you have added too much it may have raised it beyond neutral to a more alkaline level.
The first thing to do is a ph test of your lawn to confirm you have added too much lime and it has raised the pH level too high.
You have two options of how to fix your lawn if you have added too much lime:
- Wait it out for 4-8 weeks whilst mulching organic matter, keeping your lawn watered and pray it gets better.
- Use more chemicals to fix the problems you created by adding too many chemicals.
So you have chosen option two and you want to take some proactive action to try and correct the pH level of your lawn here’s what to do, you have to add horticultural sulfur to your lawn as this will lower the pH but you have to be patient as you don’t want to make the same mistake you made when you added lime.
How Much Lime To Add To Lawns
If you are planning on adding lime to your lawn you really shouldn’t just add a random amount as if you get it wrong it could do more damage than good.
The ideal pH level for growing grass is between 6.5 and 7 so that is the level you should be aiming to achieve when you add lime. The amount of lime you should add to your lawn depends on the current pH level and the type of soil you have.
This is how much lime you should add to raise the pH level of 1000 square feet by 1.0
- Sandy soil – add 25 pounds of lime
- Loamy soil – add 75 pounds of lime
- Clay soil – add 100 pounds of lime
When you add lime the effect will not be immediate and you probably won’t notice any difference for several months.
It can actually take up to 12 months for all of the lime to be absorbed into the soil.
To adjust the pH level is a slow process if you do it correctly, so you may have to use several applications of lime until you achieve a pH level that is ideal for growing grass, especially if the pH level is severely low and it is more than a minor adjustment you are trying to achieve.
Check out my full article on how much lime to use on your lawn.
How To Tell If Your Lawn Needs Lime
You don’t want to be adding lime to your lawn Just for the sake of it, you really do have to carry out a pH test to be sure your lawn actually needs lime added to it.
There are some signs so you can look out for as an indication that you have acidic soil that could be improved for grass growth by adding lime to it:
- An increased amount of weeds growing in your lawn, specifically dandelions and clover suggest acidic soil.
- Increased amounts of moss growing in your lawn because if there is moss then the condition of your lawn is nowhere near perfect for grass.
If you notice these problems that is an indication that your lawn has acidic soil under it which could benefit from lime being added to it.
Be aware you should not rush into adding lime and you should carry out a pH test to make sure because if you add too much lime to your lawn when it doesn’t need it, It can turn into a disaster.
For more detail on signs your lawn needs lime Click Here.
How To Evenly Spread Lime On Your Lawn
If you are planning on spreading lime on your lawn you really do have to make sure you make it an even spread.
If you put too much lime on one area of your lawn it will probably lead to you having an area of lawn that is yellow and generally unhealthy and as you are trying to make your lawn beautiful and green you really do need to avoid making any problems worse than they already are.
Some kinds of lime are easier to spread evenly than others…
- Powder Lime – Powdered lime is a good option however it is kind of difficult to evenly spread over your lawn because it is a powder. You will probably have to do it manually by hand, which means you have to use your own judgment and skill when spreading it.
- Granular lime – granular lime is probably the most popular lime for home gardeners as it comes in little pellets which make it easy to spread evenly. Granular lime pellets are most commonly used in a spreading machine and that’s the reason they are easy to spread evenly.
- Liquid lime can be an option, you just simply put it in a sprayer and spray it all over your lawn. The problem when applying liquid lime is that it is very difficult to judge how much lime you have sprayed on your lawn so if you are looking for lawn perfection it might not be the best type of lime to use.
I use granular lime on my lawn as it is easy enough to just stick it in a spreading machine and run the machine back and forwards over your lawn, this means lime will be spread evenly and you won’t end up with too much lime on one area of your lawn.
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