Released March 14, 2008
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. -- If you want a healthy, high-quality, attractive lawn, you must make sure that your soil has the proper pH.
"Lime is often applied to Arkansas lawns to help raise the soil pH near neutral, which increases the availability of most plant nutrients," said Jimmy Driggers, Garland County extension staff chair with the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture.
Before liming your home lawn or applying any nutrients, you should obtain a free soil test from your county extension office.
"A soil test provides key information including soil pH, potassium and phosphorous levels," Driggers said. "Collect soil samples in a bucket from the upper 4 to 6 inches of soil from 10 or more locations around the yard. Remove any vegetative material such as stems and leaves. Air dry and mix the samples thoroughly. Take about 1 pint of the mixture to your extension office."
Although soil can be sampled at any time during the year, sampling your lawn in late fall, early winter or late spring will expedite the process since soil test labs are less busy at those times than at other times of the year.
Driggers said that soil pH, which is a measure of the soil acidity or alkalinity, can have a dramatic effect on soil nutrient availability and on plant growth. Nutrients that are essential to plant growth are most available between pH 5.8 and 6.5, although the pH scale ranges from 0 to 14. About 50 percent of Arkansas lawns have a below optimum soil pH (equal to or less than 5.7).
"Each turfgrass species prefers a slightly different pH for optimum growth," said Driggers. "Bermudagrass, tall fescue and zoysiagrass prefer a soil pH in the range of 5.8 to 7.0. St. Augustine prefers more alkaline conditions with an optimum pH of 6.5 to 7.5. Centipedegrass is more tolerant of acid soils (pH = 5.0 to 6.0) compared to other species."
Driggers said that the results of your soil test report will tell you whether your lawn needs liming as well as how much lime to apply.
"Lime is best applied in the spring or fall, but regardless of application timing, it may take several months before the lime can effectively raise the pH of your soil," said Driggers. "Continue to lime and retest your soil annually until the pH is optimum for turf growth."
For more information about soil testing or liming your lawn, contact your county extension agent or visit http://www.uaex.edu and select Agriculture, then search for Soil Testing or Lime. The Cooperative Extension Service is part of the U of A Division of Agriculture.
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http://www.uaex.edu/news/march2008/0314liminglawn.htm
Contact: Lamar James, (501) 671-2187 or (501) 753-0207, ljames@uaex.edu
