Jim Ledford wrote:


the first real problem needing correction where grass is to
be grown in heavy clay content soil is to correct the pH of
the heavy clay soil. a pH of 7 is ideal for most all grass
types. clay most always test at a pH of 4 to 4.8 it takes
one ton of lime to the acre to move the pH one point on that
one acre of land. after having the clay soil tested to gain
a starting point break the applications down into 4 to 6
applications separated by at least 4 week intervals.

If I understand you correctly, I should bother fertilizing, since lime
will raise the pH level to a point in which fertilization and
weed-killing is unnecessary. However, just out of curiousity, if I
were to fertilize, would THAT interfere in any way with corrective
activities of lime? Also, if a fertilizer is applied shortly before or
shortly after the lime application, would that cause any problems?

yards are not a full acre after we subtract square footage for
the house, driveway, shop, pool and patio. great care and caution
should be exercised to avoid applying lime to areas near azaleas,
rhododendrons, dogwoods and other acid soil loving plants. drop
spreaders mostly suck, however, if one can not learn to control the
width of the broadcast from a broadcast spreader then they are at
the mercy of the confounded drop spreaders when applying lime near
those acid lovers.

An alternative would be not to get too close to the acid-loving plants,
right?

Is it possible to apply "too much" lime?


lime is the secret to a beautiful healthy lush green lawn. lots
of good stuff locked in that clay and once the pH is moved up to
a 7 that plant food is released and becomes available to the plants.

most people prefer ruining our environment with a 15.00 dollar
bag of fertilizer than actually improving the soil with a 3.00
dollar bag of lime. oh, and lime should actually be purchased
at your local Farm supply dealer for $2.70 a 40 pound bag.

Interesting. Thank you.