how can I find out if my lawn is acid or alcalic? And when's the best time to fertilize lawn?

Question

I want to know it because of fertilization.

Answer 1

Best way is to buy a cheap soil testing kit from Garden nursary. Alternatively, if you have hydrangea plants, what colour were the flowers? If they were blue, chances are your soil is acidic. Pink hydrangeas are produced in a neutral or only slightly acidic soil.

Answer 2

I bought a soil testing kit not long since from a local garden centre. There were 2 tests within one kit. As recommended by Alan Titchmarsh I took soil from 3 different places in the garden, mixed it up and put it in the little tube provided and followed the instructions. Very easy to do, then you compare the colour that you're left with in the tube to the grid of colours provided and this is supposed to tell you what type of soil you have. BUT and this is a big BUT - I couldn't really tell what colour the liquid was in the test as it fell between two of the colours on the grid but it showed that the soil was more alkaline than acidic. As I had two tests within the kit I decided to do the test again just to be sure, taking the soil for sampling from the same three areas of the garden again and mixing it together. This time the test turned out to be more acidic than alkaline. I did the test within about half an hour of each other so I'm still clueless as to what soil I have.

All I know is that my plants grow ok.!!

Answer 3

Best information will come from a soils test. A basic test of pH, P, K and lime requirements will usually run about $10-15 from your local extension service.

Local garden centers can often give you a guesstimate of your pH -- but ask a horticulturalist, not the kid at the cash register. In general, soils in high rainfall areas need lime. Sandy soils often need lime.

Fertilization requirements depend on the type of grasses in your lawn, and how you want to maintain the lawn. I generally fertilize a little at the beginning of the growing season and a month or so before the end of the mowing season. People who want a lawn so thick you can hardly mow will fertilize more often. People who don't mind bald patches won't fertilize much, if at all.

Generally, your state extension service can offer you some excellent recommendations on when and what types of fertilizers are useful in your state.

Answer 4

Send a sample to a soil testing facility in your area, many colleges or extensions offer this service for a nominal fee. It is money well spent as it will also give you the information on the macro and micro nutrients. There is also something called the "CEC", which is kind of hard to explain but basically lets you know how slowly or quickly it will be to change the pH of your soil. None of this information is available from a garden center soil test kit.

Answer 5

There will be plenty of worm casts on an alkaline lawn.

Answer 6

Depending on where you are you may still be in time to put on an autumn dressing, but if it is too late then wait until spring.

Answer 7

You can get soil testers down your local DIY garden centre

Answer 8

litmus paper indicates alcalinity or acidity. You'll want to sample various areas.

Lime "sweetens" soil