Should I apply lime to my lawn?
Should I apply lime to my lawn?
In Iowa, home gardeners should apply lime to lawns only when recommended by a soil test. A soil test will indicate the current soil pH and, if necessary, the amount of lime to apply to the area.
The soil pH is important because it influences the availability of essential nutrients. The pH scale runs from 0 to 14. Any pH below 7.0 is acidic and any pH above 7.0 is alkaline. A pH of 7.0 indicates a neutral soil. The optimum pH range for lawns is between 6.0 and 7.5. Lime is applied to acidic soils with a pH below 6.0 to raise the pH into the optimum range. However, an application of lime to an alkaline soil can raise the soil pH to excessively high levels, reducing the availability of plant nutrients and leading to poor plant growth.
There is no need to apply lime to most lawns in Iowa as few have a soil pH below 6.0. Applying lime to lawns with a soil pH above 7.0 may actually be detrimental.
Links to this article are strongly encouraged, and this article may be republished without further permission if published as written and if credit is given to the author, Horticulture and Home Pest News, and Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. If this article is to be used in any other manner, permission from the author is required. This article was originally published on . The information contained within may not be the most current and accurate depending on when it is accessed.