The soil in our yard appears to need nitrogen and calcium. The stuff I've read, and the advice I've been told, says to add soil amendments.
How?
Okay. I'm far from an expert. Let's start at the beginning.
If I add something like dolomite (for calcium), I'm told that will kill microinvertebrates and make the lawn dependent on chemical fertilizers indefinitely. I don't want that!
So let's add compost. But, in order to add enough calcium in compost form, I'd have to add several inches (in vertical depth) of of compost. That would smother the lawn. Nope. Not gonna do it. I don't want to re-plant the lawn.
Obviously I can't believe everything I hear or read.
Firstly don't add dolomite to improve just calcium, it contains calcium and magnesium which need to be kept in balance. Generally dolomite is used where both calcium and magnesium are required and to change the balance towards magnesium. Instead add garden lime (calcium carbonate) if you want to raise the pH or gypsum (calcium sulphate) if you don't want to change the pH. All these are natural minerals which have been used by gardeners for centuries.
Secondly the microflora will not be killed by adding any of these is sensible quantities. Yes you could cause damage by changing the pH very quickly by adding something like builder's lime (calcium hydroxide) but you don't want to do that. Adding reasonable amounts of dolomite or garden lime will not make your lawn dependent on chemicals. I don't know where this idea of dependency comes from.
Nitrogen can be added in many ways, I prefer bird manure (pelletised chicken manure is commonly available) but synthetic fertilisers will do the job without causing the last trumpet to sound. Be warned that synthetics are more concentrated and so can be over done easily and nitrogen compounds leach out quickly if the soil structure is poor. This will waste your money and pollute the nearby waterways.
Compost is good for depleted soil for many reasons but it will not increase calcium very much if at all.
Ted where did you get this information? Have you tested the pH? If not do so before you act.
a fairly simple solution, but one that is long term, to get nitrogen fixed in your lawn is through adding clovers. Try oversowing the lawn with a clover mix in autumn.
Add pulverized egg shells (put in blender with some water) to your lawn. Egg shells breakdown slowly, so you won't get a quick response, but they will break down eventually.
Grin, I do save up the shells to amend a small container but I'm not sure it really does much. More of a science experiement for the fun of it. That container is used for spinaches and such.
I appreciate your aim of re-use and recycle but in this case it isn't practical.
How many eggs do you have to eat to get enough shell to spread on a yard? Sure it depends on the size of the yard but we are talking about some kilos of egg shell.
How fine can you grind it? Not very fine without a mill. Fine garden lime or gypsum will take months to work, ground shell will be much coarser and take years.
IMO, if the OP wants to add calcium, all he/she needs to do is to just find someone who still has a wood burning fireplace/heater, then s/he could just spread the seived ash which contains calcium. It should be spread thinly like icing sugar (confectioner's sugar in USian) on the top of a Victoria Sponge cake.
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nitrogen I'd spread 'your friend and mine' - good old blood and bone.
It's a long term thing, you have to like eggs (maybe your friends or neighbors will help out), and hopefully they are pastured egg shells (the eggs will be better for you). It's what I do.
Obviously, if your in a rush and have money to burn, I'd probably do rock phosphate at 50 lbs.(24 kg) per 1000 sq. ft.(100 sq. m.), unless you wanted to adjust the pH upwards.
I don't care. Sometimes I just crush it with my hands and toss them into the beds. I've had time. Hopefully, I'll have more. And the shells disappear, eventually. It's gardening;O)
And you get this from where?, he said with reservations.
In the mean time, I found: Lucerne - Primarily a plant source of nitrogen, Alfalfa Pellets (5-1-2) also contains trace minerals and triacontanol, a plant growth promoter.
I use lucerne for my mulch. Makes me proud.
But for nitrogen look at and then look at the price, before you buy.
OK if the pH needs to be raised. As you say use it sparingly as it is quite alkaline and some of the alkaliine stuff (the potassium salts) are soluble and so fast acting. For a novice there are safer alternatives.
I have no idea since I don't live in the US. If I did, I suspect I'd be looking for it under a different name, like blood meal or bone meal or somesuch.
Well I do know people who have very large shredding machine who pick up roadkill (eg dead roos, wombats etc), shove the roadkill through the shredder and then throw in either cardboard boxes or hay bales to clean out the lingering remains. I guess that would achieve a similar result.
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