Elena Sofia wrote:

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 shouldn't bother fertilizing, since lime
will raise the pH level to a point in which fertilization and
weed-killing is unnecessary.

correct. attack that pH problem first and foremost. consult
with your local county or state soil and water government services.
mine is on the web at this link:

http://www.wakegov.com/environment/c...tion/Soils.htm

my tax dollars provide this service and I take advantage of what
they already know as well as their ability to test the soil samples
I send to them. not only do they test for pH they also can determine
mineral nutrient content.

a correct pH for lawn health is the most important and should
always be the first consideration and first correction.




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?

I bet your soil test come back with a pH below a 7 which means
your soil is acid. the pH scale goes from 1 to 14. 7 is neutral,
below 7 is acid and above 7 is alkaline. look at a box of miracle
grow mir-acid for azaleas and you'll observe the numbers 30-10-10.
the first number is nitrogen and in cheap man made fertilizers is
made from ammonium sulfate or ammonium nitrate and both are acid.
notice any rust on the metal parts of your fertilizer spreader?
anyhow, you are trying to move the soil pH from acid towards neutral
so applying high nitrogen content fertilizers will inhibit and
discourage pH correction.



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?

yes be very careful because you can kill them quickly with lime.
if you realize soon enough this mistake has been made then you can
correct it with sulfanilamide applied at the base of the acid loving
plants.


Is it possible to apply "too much" lime?

yes, that's why I break the recommend application amount into
4 to 6 different applications with at least 4 weeks in-between
each application. when the pH of the soil moves towards neutral
the nitrogen which is bonded and locked into the soil will be
released and made available to whatever grass is there. if this
happens on a cool season grass during hot weather the grass is
going to get burned up and die. if this happens to a hot weather
grass during hot weather the grass is going to jump green and if
it gets water it will thrive. you'll think you just fertilized.
pellet lime takes about 6 months to start changing the soil pH.
time your applications with the time of year and the type of grass
you are working to have. pulverized lime works in about 4 months.
nobody likes working with pulverized lime. observe the top picture
on the web page of mine I'm about to share with you. see the dust
cloud behind the application truck? that's pulverized agricultural
lime making that dust cloud?

http://personalpages.bellsouth.net/t.../lime-day.html

as for your continuing lime program. due to acid rain the 30,000
square foot lawns I manage get 80 pounds of lime spread evenly 3
times a year. this is on going and after the larger applications
to correct acid soils.




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.

you are welcome.