When Should I Put Lime On My Lawn? Simply Explained
When you add lime to your lawn it will make the soil less acidic and raise the pH to a more neutral level but if you are thinking about doing this I hope you have already done a pH test to confirm you should put lime on your lawn.
If you want to know when you should put lime on your lawn there are different times when it is advisable to do it and in this article, I will let you know when it is and give you some other advice you should know if you’re planning on adding lime to your lawn.
You should put lime on your lawn during spring or fall as the conditions during these seasons are ideal for lime to be absorbed by your lawn down to the soil. However, you can actually put lime on your lawn any time that the grass is not dormant or stressed.
Don’t Lime If Your Lawn Is Stressed Or Dormant
If it is summertime and your lawn is turning brown or yellow and looks generally unhealthy like it might be dying don’t panic it might just be stressed or dormant due to the weather.
During the summer if there is extreme heat or a long period of drought your lawn may appear to look like it is dying but there is a good chance it has just gone into self-preservation mode and has gone dormant, this means when the temperature gets back to more ideal conditions for growing it will start to recover and turn green again.
If your lawn is stressed or dormant you really don’t want to be adding lime to it, it can survive in its dormant mode for a few weeks and it will return and start showing signs of health when the conditions change and it gets some much-needed water.
If your lawn is in its dormant mode then the soil will be in the exact conditions you don’t want it to be in for adding lime, which is hard and compacted.
The idea is for the lime to be absorbed into the soil and it will find it difficult to get down to where it is needed most when is soil is in a condition that has caused your lawn to become stressed or dormant.
To learn the signals of a lawn that needs lime Click Here.
Best Time Of Year To Lime Your Lawn
So have tested the pH of your soil and you now want to add lime to your soil as you believe this will improve your lawn and turn it into the lush green grass that you have always wanted.
If you get it right then your dream of a lush green Lawn could be just around the corner, if you get it wrong you might not see much if any improvement or in a worst case scenario it could be a disaster and make your lawn worse than it’s ever been.
So with that in mind, you want to apply the lime at a time of year that is ideal for it to be absorbed deep into the soil and this time would either be spring or fall…
Adding Lime During Spring
So spring has arrived and it is time for you to start working on your lawn to make it lush and green for the summer ahead. When you’re planning on adding lime to your lawn during the springtime you should resist doing it too early as you do want the lawn to have started growing again, you should never lime a lawn that is dormant.
Most people do prefer to lime their lawn during the springtime as there are some advantages to doing it during this time period, some advantages are:
- You will see the advantages of correcting the pH balance of the soil in your lawn almost immediately during the summer growing period.
- Having a healthy lawn during the hot summer months will mean it is more resistant to harmful long drought periods when it can become stressed.
- Lime will make your grass absorb more nutrients when you fertilize it. Don’t add lime and fertilizer together but lime will prepare your lawn for summer fertilizer use.
It’s all down to preference really, that is some of the advantages you will see, and the reasons why many people choose to add lime during the spring.
Adding Lime During Fall
Some people prefer to add lime to their lawn during fall just before the first frost starts.
This is because many people see fall as a time you actually start preparing your lawn for the next year.
Whichever time of year you add lime to your lawn it is important you have tested the pH levels and don’t just rush in and add lime. There are some advantages to adding lime to your lawn during fall:
- The wet conditions of fall into winter means that the moisture on your lawn will be ideal for lime to work it’s way down into the soil where it does its important work.
- When you add lime it can take 2 or 3 months for it to change the pH level of your soil, applying it during fall should mean your pH is sorted for the start of the next growing season.
- The freezing and thawing conditions and any snow over winter are the ideal conditions for breaking down the lime so it gets properly absorbed by the soil.
Once you have applied lime and given it several months to do its work you should retest the pH of your soil to check it is now at the ideal condition for grass which is a pH of around 6 or 7.
If the lime hasn’t worked as well as expected you might end up adding lime during spring and fall until you get the conditions you are looking to achieve.
In An Emergency Add Lime Anytime
If your lawn is so covered in moss and weeds and all the grass looks like it’s going to die you may have a lawn emergency and in these circumstances, you should still check the pH of your lawn before you take any drastic action.
If the pH of your lawn is off the scale bad for the conditions you need for grass then you should add lime immediately.
The recommendation that you add lime during spring or fall is only a recommendation because the conditions during those times are ideal but if you cannot wait until those seasons and you feel lime is the only way you can save your lawn then you should, of course, add it to your lawn.
To find out what happens if you add too much lime Click Here.
How Often Should You Lime Your Lawn
If you are laying a new lawn and you have tested it and it is showing a high acidic pH level it is easiest if you add the lime into the soil straight away as it does take several months before it starts to change the pH level in the soil is applied to it.
When you are going to add lime to an established lawn it is important you prepare it so that it will get the most benefit that you’re hoping for. You should prepare your lawn before you add lime by aerating it is this will open it up and I will make it easier for the lime to reach down into the areas you want it to get to.
When you apply lime to your lawn it can take several months for it to work into the soil and change the pH level for this reason after a few months you should check the pH level again to see if it needs another application of lime.
Once you get the pH level of your lawn to the correct level it should stay good for at least 2 or 3 years before you have to worry about adding any more lime to it.
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