Garden lime plays an important role in professional lawn care. If the pH value gets out of hand, lime will bring it back into balance. The 10 best tips reveal when the best time is and how to properly lime the lawn.
How can you properly lime the lawn?
In order to optimally lime the lawn, first carry out a soil analysis and determine the pH value. Dose the garden lime according to the soil type and the current pH value. The best time for liming is after scarifying and aerating, in spring or summer.
Tip 1: Soil analysis ensures transparency
Proper lawn care requires a professional soil analysis to be carried out every 2-3 years. To do this, take some soil from 10-12 places from the lawn, mix it and put it in a labeled plastic bag. Sent by post to a special laboratory, you will receive detailed information regarding the composition of the soil within a few weeks.
The particular advantage of this analysis is that you also receive specific recommendations regarding the need for fertilizer and garden lime. This means there are no longer any questions left as to when and in what quantity you should properly lime and fertilize your lawn.
Tip 2: Carry out the PH value test yourself and interpret it correctly – this is how it works
If a soil analysis from the laboratory is too time-consuming for you, you can quickly obtain the desired information about the lime content in the lawn yourself. An uncomplicated pH value test (€2.00 at Amazon) from the hardware store does not require any prior chemical knowledge. This is how it works:
- Take several soil samples from the lawn up to a depth of 10 centimeters
- Mix in a glass jar and mix with the added distilled water
- Add a test tablet, close the container and shake
- Once the tablet has dissolved, a coloring reaction reveals the pH value
It's cheaper and even easier to determine the acid level in the lawn with a lachmus test strip. To do this, pour 100 grams of the mixed soil sample into a preserving jar and fill it with 100 milliliters of distilled water. The litmus strip goes into this mix to show the result after about 10 minutes.
Tip 3: The right dosage is important
In order to properly lime a lawn, the pH value alone is not enough. The exact nature of the soil also influences the dosage of garden lime. The following table should serve as a guide with regard to the timing of maintenance liming and the dosage of garden lime if there is a risk of soil acidification:
| Time and dosage recommendation | Light soil with plenty of sand | Medium soil with a mix of clay and sand | Heavy soil with loam and clay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maintenance liming | every 3 years 125 g/m² | every 2-3 years 160 g/m² | every 2 years 200 g/m² |
| pH value below 5 | 150-200 g/m² | 300-400 g/m² | 350-450 g/m² |
| pH value 5-6 | 120-180 g/m² | 180-250 g/m² | 250-350 g/m² |
| pH value 6-7 | do not lime additionally | do not lime additionally | do not lime additionally |
| (amounts based on carbonated garden lime) |
If the pH value exceeds the ideal level of 6-7, alkaline conditions prevail. Applying garden lime at this time has a counterproductive effect. Instead of moss and thatch, you will be confronted with clover and other lime-loving weeds when caring for your lawn.
Tip 4: Liming at the best time increases efficiency
If the pH value in the lawn turns out to be too low after a test, you can in principle apply the necessary garden lime at any time during the growing season. You can find out when you should ideally help the lawn get back on its feet here:
- In March/April, when the green was aired for lawn care in spring
- In summer, after the stressed lawn is prepared for winter in August/September
At the time, the lawn should be dry and the weather should be overcast. Especially in summer, garden lime could cause burns to the sensitive noble grasses in the blazing sunshine.
Tip
If the lawn takes on a yellowish color after mowing in the summer, this deficiency does not necessarily indicate a lack of lime or nutrients. Intensive use of the lawn mower causes a dull blade blade, so that the grass is torn up instead of being cut off smoothly. Simply sharpen the lawnmower blade or have it sharpened by a specialist and the problem is solved.
Tip 5: Scarifying increases the lawn's receptivity
If the grass area is cleaned of moss and thatch in the spring as part of lawn care, this scarification increases the willingness to absorb garden lime at the same time. If you want to whitewash your green business card correctly, you should do this:
- As an exception, mow the lawn as short as possible
- Walk the scarifier once lengthways and once across the lawn
- Sweep away the combed out moss and weeds completely and dispose of them
- Apply the garden lime in the recommended dosage with the spreader
Ideally, you should spray the lawn extensively immediately afterwards so that the garden lime is rained down deep into the roots. Until then, children and pets should not enter the whitewashed lawn.
Tip 6: This is how aerating and liming lawns go hand in hand
A green area that is particularly stressed in summer is additionally aerated after scarifying so that it can be properly limed. While a scarifier only scratches the lawn superficially, the hollow spoons of the aerator penetrate up to 10 centimeters into the sod. In this way, harmful compactions are broken up so that garden lime can work in all regions of the lawn. This is how it works:
- Mow the lawn briefly and scarify thoroughly
- Perforate the grass area with a mechanical or manual aerator
- Meticulously remove the cut out soil cones
- Sand the lawn first and then lime it
After airing, apply a thin layer of fine-grained, washed sand and then sprinkle the garden lime. In this way, you can treat even intensively used sports and play turf to an effective revitalization treatment.
Tip 7: Useful in the summer – conservation liming
The function of garden lime is by no means limited to increasing a low pH value in the lawn. At the same time, lime vitalizes soil life, optimizes the crumb structure, stimulates root growth and strengthens the cell walls in plant tissue. Since rain washes out the material easily, it should be refreshed regularly.
We therefore recommend maintenance liming in summer every 2-3 years, even with a normal pH value of 6-7. In this way, you can prevent the permanent threat of acidification in good time. A good time for this professional lawn care measure is a day in August or September.
Tip 8: These types of lime are good for a lawn
Not all lime is suitable for garden lime. There are definitely differences within the limestone types that should be known at least in broad outline. Below we present recommended preparations:
- Algae lime: ideal for the natural garden; Rock powder with a high proportion of carbonated lime
- Dolomite: carbonate garden lime with plenty of magnesium; perfect for light soil
- Limestone flour: the best garden lime for autumn; rich in natural calcium carbonate
- Thomas flour: contains an additional 15-20 percent phosphorus for a rich green lawn color
In addition, nature provides various rock powders that are suitable for providing lime to the lawn. As a purely natural product, the material works a little slower because the ingredients first have to be broken down by microorganisms.
Tip 9: These indicator plants replace pH value tests
If you don't want to bother with a complex soil analysis or a pH value test, take a look at the plant life in and around the lawn. Various plants act as indicator plants for a lack of lime. These species are:
- Moss
- Sorrel
- Hare clover
- Ranunculus
- Pansies
Where nettles, dandelions and white clover sprout, however, there is no need to use garden lime. On these weeds, the administration of lime acts as a welcome fertilizer that promotes growth.
Tip 10: Care for the lawn properly after liming
Experienced hobby gardeners are well aware that optimal lawn care does not end with the addition of garden lime. Rather, liming represents an important aspect of the overall program. All fundamental measures that are relevant after liming are listed below:
- Water the lawn twice a week when it is dry in summer
- Mow regularly from spring until the first frost, no deeper than 3-4 centimeters
- Dethatch at least once per season to remove moss and thatch
- Aerate and sand compacted grass areas manually or mechanically
- Fertilize the lawn organically in a balanced manner every 3-4 weeks before liming
Lawn is in constant competition with moss and weeds. If you whitewash the green area correctly and maintain it regularly, you will have done everything you can to create a velvety, lush green carpet that will attract many an envious glance over the garden fence.
One of the biggest problems when reseeding the lawn - pecking birds - is solved with the help of a simple trick. New seed mixtures consist of green-colored lawn seeds. Seeds that are green in color do not fit into the birds' feeding pattern and remain untouched.