Question
I have a question about lime.  My Ph is 6.2 and 6.0 in two soil tests. Should I do another one? What is the difference between limes to put down? I am having someone do this for me but I want to spec the materials and don't want this to go wrong. Thanks. I'm writing from Virginia.

Answer
Hi Carlos;
The only thing I have ever used lime for was to tereat the latrines when I was a leader at Girl Scout Day Camp.
I hacve never used it for the lawn.
It is tricky, as chemical products are.
Even though lime is a natural mineral, a little too much can do more damage than none at all.
If you follow a good organic program, your soil PH will balance itself out.
7 is a normal PH, so you are not in serious enough trouble to need to apply anything right away.
You can add a little acid to plants that need it by ading a little cider vinegar to the watering, about 1 teaspoonful per gallon of water.
Some good compost will add micro-organisms that will work and enrich your soil.
these beneficial microbes work round the clock, and you only have to feed them some sugar or dry molasses.
I prefer sugar, because it is easier to aply ( I just broadcast it by hand and water it in), and it requires about 4 to 50 pounds per 1000 sq.ft, where dry molasses requires 10 pounds per 1000 sq.ft, and they cost about the same per pound.
I have used sugar in the spring and fall, and sometimes in mid-summer, for the last 10 years or so, and my soil is very well balanced, and all good top soil type growing medium.
The microbes did all this, not me.
I can grow anything the climate in North Texas will allow, in my soil, and get beautiful rsults.
When you have rich soil, you have no weed problem.
Weeds like poor soil, and will not thrive in rich soil, so if they even come up, they will die out right away.
I have a heaslthy enviornment for beneficial critters like toads, lizards and grass snakes.
They eat all the harmful insects that invade lawns and gardens, so there is no need to apply poisonous insecticides.
I used baking soda for fungus and molds until this year.
I had been reading about horticultural Corn Meal for fungus, and I used that. Got rid of the black spot fungus all this rain has brought to my oses and shrubs.
If you want to hire someone to do your lawn work, fine, but I strongly recommend you follow an organic program.
This is our lawn care routine.
I apply sugar in the spring, and water it in well.
I alays water to a depth of at least 6 inches, to promote a deep root system. A deep root system prevents thatch, and helps protect your grass etc from heat, cold and drought damage.
Sugar does NOT attract ants, because you disolve it when you water it in, and it goes into the soil.
My husband mows and edges once a wek, and I do all the watering.
In mid-summer, if it is extremely hot, I aply sugar again to boost the micro-organisms. The heat can kill them off if I don't.
I apply sugar in the fall, and water it in.
Until last year, that is all we did, and we have a thick, lush lawn and garden.
Last spring I read about alfalfa meal and lava sand, so I tried them.
lfalfa meal is full of nutrients, and boost the number of anf size of blooms in flwers, and boosts growth in other shrubs, and house plants. It also boosts the grass too.
Lava sand, is good, but my soil was already in such good condition from what the micro-organisms had done over the years.
Just starting out on an organic program, I recommend using the lava sand, and alfalfa meal both.
In a matter of a coule of months, after all the poisons are washed out of the soil, and an organic program has been put into practice, you will be surprised at the results.
in a year, you will be amazed, and it just continually gets better and better, year after year.
Organics cost a lot less than using chemical products, and takes a fraction of the work.
I spent about 10 to 20 hours per week on lawn and garden work, all the years I used chemicals, and had mediocre results.
I spend about 2 to 4 hours a week now, since I am using the organic program, and I have the lawn and garden I always dreamed of.
I would not apply the lime, rather, wash out any chemicals that are in the soil, if you have applied them in the last month, and start an organic program, byt broadcasting 4 to 5 pounds of sugar, and about 2 to 4 pounds of alfalfa meal.,per 1000 sq.ft of lawn and garden.
If you soil is tight, and has a clay content, use the lava sand at 10 pounds per 1000 sq.ft. If you have good, loose soil, use about 4 to 5 pounds lava sand per 1000 sq.ft.
Just water deeply, and enjoy your lawn instead of working yourself to death on it.
If you have fungus, or live in an area where there is a lot of fungus problems, apply 10 pounds Horticultural corn meal per 1000 sq.ft.
With organics, you don't run the risk of damage if you put too much.
If you spill a lot in one spot of any of these things, all you do is waste a little money, but you will NOT burn or kill anything in your lawn.
You use the organic program on everything you grow for beauty or for food, and it is totally safe for children and pets to play on it, even while you are applying them to the lawn.
Encourage children to watch, but not catch the lizards, toads etc.
Keep them safe, and they will work for you to keep your lawn free of harmful insects.
My lizards eat ALL the aphids off my roses, and they scamper through the trees, and eat the tent catapillars. I just don't have to bother with bugs.
I grow mosquito plants to keep those pests away when we are outside. THEY DO WORK!!
Chatlotte.
Write anytime you feel I can help, or want more organic information.
Charlotte