Hello, I've just started my very first lawn project ever. Very excited about it. I just tested my soil and it's ph is 6 considered acidic. I've got a pretty good go of thatch and moss. Should I lime it first and then dethatch? or dethatch and then lime?
I would think that dethatch would be first to open up the ground, but I just want to make sure I don't over look any thing.
Thanks, Hope someone can give me a clue. would like to make this a hobby. :)
Pucky
A PH of 6 is not too bad, but more than likely your lawn could benefit from a lime application once per year. Most turf grasses are happiest with a PH of around 6.5, but there are a few exceptions. You didn't specify your grass type. The symptom of a lawn with too low PH is the lawn will not green up properly even after fertilizer is applied. If your lawn greens up nicely when you apply fertilizer, you really don't have a problem with soil PH as far as the grass itself is concerned, however lowering the soil PH will probably help with your moss problem. Iron sulfate will also help with moss. When you fertilize look for fertilizer with iron. Check the active ingredients and you should find iron sulfate or ferrous sulfate.
You can apply lime with or without thatch. It really doesn't matter. The lime is going to eventually soak into the soil even if there is thatch, although thatch may slow down the process. If you have thatch, it sounds like this is your biggest problem and you should address it first.
If you have the capability of bagging, you may want to do that for a few months until the thatch problem has been eraticated completely. If you are using a mulching lawn mower, make sure you mow often and don't take too much off at any one time. Thatch usually happens because of poor mowing habits. If you are not mulching or bagging, you should be. However even if you are mulching, you should be mowing as often as you should because if you try to take off too much, you are going to overwhealm the mulching system of your mower. Some people think that if you mow your grass low, you won't have to mow as often. Actually the reverse is true. For instance let's say I want to mow 1" off my grass, if I mow my lawn when it is 2" tall and I mow to 1", I'm taking off 50% of the total grass which is a bad thing. If I mow my lawn when it's 4" and I mow it to 3", I'm only taking off 25% which is OK. Different grass types like to be mowed at different heights, so research what type of grass you have to find out the recommended mowing heights.
Thanks Roy, That's awesome. We just moved in and it looks like the lawn has never really had any TCL. lots of thatch, moss, weeds, burnt areas too. It also looks like the last people tried to fix some bare spots with different types of grass, big clumps of odd grass. (all in all a nightmare, but I'm willing) the lawn has direct sunlight all day, but I'm not sure the grass type(s).
So here is my plan so far.
1) dethatch (2 days) 2) lime (I don't have a drop spreader just the spray kind is that ok) (3 days) 3) weed and feed (5 days) 4) mow often as you said. ;) (as often as needed)The reason I put days in, is I've been told that a lime aplication is done early morning for about three days. and the same for the weed and feed. I totally have no idea.
Located Victoria, BC. Canada (west coast weather)
Pucky
RoyDMercer wrote:
Grasses can be one of two types. Cool season (like Bermuda or St Augustine) or warm season (like rye or fescue). Going on where you live, I'm sure you have some type of cool season grass. You really should try and find out what type of grass you have (ask a neighbor) because knowing what type of grass you have will enable you to research things like proper watering, overseeding requirements (if necessary), mowing heights, and things of this nature. My guess is you probably have Rye, Fescue, or Bluegrass. It is possible you could have a combination of two or three different grasses by orignial design.
I'm not sure why you were told to lime over three days. One application should be plenty. The thing you need to know is how much to apply. You already know your soil PH is 6.0. Cool season grasses do well in soil PH in the range from 6.0 to 6.5, so actually you're already there. Really the only reason you need it is to keep your moss down. When you say spray type, I'm assuming you mean a rotary spreader which will work great. Assuming you will be using dolomitic limestone pellets, I would recommend only about
10-15 lbs per 1000 sq/ft. This is a very rough guess. It would be best to ask a neighbor who has a nice lawn because all soils are different as far as how much lime it will take to raise the PH level. The main thing to remember is don't over do it. You're already very close to the optimum PH level. You'll need to either apply right before a good rain, or water your lawn after application because you don't want to leave the lime on the grass leaves for very long.My recommendation is to not worry too much about your weeds right now. Your main goal should be to restore your lawn to a healthy state first. Chemicals which kill weeds also stress lawns to a certain extent so you really should only use them when you have a healthy lawn.
In his case I don't think it would be necessary to wait that long. Normally you would wait a while before fertilizing because the lime needs to have time to work to enable the grass to absorb the nutrients you are supplying in the fertilizer application. However in his case the primary reason he needs the lime is to help with his moss problem.
Um, they can be applied the same day. Disregard -any- advice Diespammer gives, he's truely clueless.
"RoyDMercer" wrote:
Thanks so much Roy, you've been a real help.
Pucky
RoyDMercer wrote:
Hey numb nuts have you snuck around anyone in this groups home taking pictures yet?
i am not George you assclown I am a NG reader who wants the truth. why did you run away from Dougs door? why arent there any close up pics if you say you didnt run? why did you wait until Leland was not at home to sneak around his house and take pics?Why do you hide your identity from those you harass?
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