Proper soil pH is integral in cultivating healthy turf. Nutrients become more available at different pH’s. For instance, your macro nutrients such as Nitrogen, Phorsphorus, Potassium along with your secondary macronutrients of Calcium, Sulfur and Magnesium become readily available at a neutral to slightly alkaline soil pH. Micronutrients become more readily available at a lower, more acidic pH. The figure underneath will explain a little better.

As you can see, no matter how much fertilizer you put down, pH is the ultimate decider whether your grass has those nutrients available to it. Some areas are more prone to becoming acidic such as shady turf areas where thinning can be seen. Applying Lime will “sweeten” the soil by raising the pH to 5.5-6.5 and allowing those nutrients to become available. After treating with Lime, some seeding will be necessary to re-establish thin turf areas. It should be noted that if excessive amounts of fertilizer is applied with an excessively low pH, a high EC or salt buildup can occur that can lead to salt toxicity. While this is detrimental to your lawn, it can be corrected by simply leaching. FERTILAWN provides professional lime treatments as an optional service at the cost of an application.

*While symptoms can give you an idea of low or high pH, the BEST way to diagnose the problem is to take a soil sample. FERTILAWN offers soil testing at an additional cost. Along with the soil test, our professionals will explain what each piece of information means including everything from pH to different nutrient amounts in the soil.