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Spring fertilizing acid soil

16 years ago

I live very close to Lake Michigan, in an area that used to be sand dunes but is now covered with oak trees. As a result the soil is very sandy and acidic. I'd like to improve the pH by applying some lime, but I also need to fertilize this spring. Not sure which to do first or if they conflict with each other. Any ideas?

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Comments (3)

billhill
16 years ago
It does not matter what order these products are applied. Mix them together if you wish. A couple ideas for you. Since this is the lawn forum, I assume you are trying to grow a lawn on the land described as "covered with oak trees". Realize that grass will not grow well in deep shade. Fine fescue blends containing Hard, Chewings and Creeping red have the best performance in moderate shade. Mulch you Autumn leaves into your lawn and allow them to decompose in place over winter. Excessive leaves should be piled and composted over winter and used as mulch in your beds or allowed to decompose further into leaf mold compost. Trees in the middle of your yard should have a mulch ring around them approximately the diameter of the drip line. Rake your shredded leaves into this mulch ring in the fall. Plant some shade loving flowers and ornamentals there. Hostas are good for shade. Good luck with your Michigan lawn. Bill Hill
michiman
Original Author
16 years ago
A bit of clarification--the land WAS covered with oak trees. Now there are only 6 or 7 left but they are huge and drop LOTS of leaves and acorns. I can hardly overestimate the amount of leaves that fall. Easily 4 or 5 dump trucks full each fall plus more in the spring. It's mind-blowing. I do get plenty of sun on the lawn, though as the white oaks are fairly upright in shape for some reason.

I have tried to grow regular bluegrass/fescue mix without much success as the pH is so acidic. Would the fescue blend do better? Thanks, all.
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Well, a soil test will let you know what the pH really is, and would probably offer some recommendations about how much lime would be useful. I live in a place where the soil is a bit acidic, and I've certainly been known to just toss some lime into my garden on principle, largely because that's what my grandmother did. A soil test would be more reliable, though. :-) Basically, I think you have 3 main options: Get a soil test and follow the recommendations. Throw in some lime anyway, if you "know" that the soil is acidic, and just guess on amounts. Familiarize yourself with what plants (or your specific herbs) look like when they're growing in too-acidic soil, keep an eye out for these signs, and add lime accordingly. You won't know in advance what you need without a reliable soil test, but if you're willing to try and see (which means possibly failing in the meantime), you can correct things over time by watching for signs in the plants.
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Carol did you get the acid thing figured out? I have the same problem,(soil too acidic) but not in pots. I used a ph meter. I was getting such wacky readings, I thought it couldn't be correct. The lowest reading I got was on one side of Twilight zone, and that one defoliated from black spot. I got this big kit to test npk and ph all separately. Followed every instruction. Got easy to read results, except for the ph one. Then I read something about moss loving acidic soil, that combined with me getting ph readings as low as 4.5 in a couple spots, over from a spot about 8 inches that read 7, makes me fairly certain my overall ph is too low. (lot of moss in the yard) I've ordered some Espoma garden lime, but I'm not sure if I should just scratch a couple tbs around the roses or what. I wish I knew the ph of black kow composted manure, because they all got planted with it, but I can't remember if I used more or less for Twilight Zone, where I'm getting the lowest readings. (I'm guessing less, but I can't remember)
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philes21
16 years ago
No. Neutralize the acid. Put the lime down, but recognize that you want to do three, maybe four, applications of lime, lightly, rather than one big application in the spring.

Additionally, you should recognize that that lawn, near those trees, needs to be kept tall. The roots need to be deep, to compete with those white oaks. There's not a sponge on this planet that can compete with a white oak, when it comes to soaking up moisture out of the ground. You have probably noticed already that the soil near those trees is dry, dry, dry.

You've probably got the shade issues whipped. Don't overlook the acidity issue and the moisture issue. Get those right, and you'll have lawn there.

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