Question
My husband thinks it would be alright to put lime in our soil now for our roses. We live in Rochester N.Y. My Question is .. would it hurt them or help them? We are pretty new at this. Thank you for your time.

Answer
You usually put lime in the soil to make it more alkaline because the soil is too acid. Also there are two types of lime. One is called quick lime and the other dolomite lime. the quick lime is only used for agriculture as it will kill and dissolve all sorts of things. The Dolomite lime is mainly used on the gardens. There is also a form of garden lime called Dolopril and it is not dusty like the dolomite kind. But no matter what you use on the garden it is going to change the PH of your soil. Most soils do not need it and if you are going to plant roses I wouldn't bother using it. I wonder if your husband is thinking of the lime that is used every spring on the lawns? Roses are really not fussy about the soil they are planted in so I would go ahead and use the soil that is in your garden. Many gardeners just mix a cup of bone meal in the hole as this gives the roots something to munch on all summer.