# When to lime new lawn



## Jersey_diy (Sep 5, 2020)

I planted KBG(80%) + PRG(20%) on 9/22, Germination was about 8 days later but the whole lawn didn't have germination until about 10 days. About how long should I wait to apply lime. I did a soil test in spring and ph was 5.17. I did a double rate of fast acting lime in the spring.

So now I am at the point of being 3 weeks from seed day, when is a good time to apply another round of lime treatment? How old does the new grass have to be?


----------



## ken-n-nancy (Jul 25, 2017)

Did you apply lime at seed-down, or was your only lime application this year the fast-acting lime in the spring? (Just trying to be sure we understand all the relevant applications.)

If your only lime application was this spring, personally, I would wait until after the grass growth has stopped this year (probably around early December for you?) and then make a lime application shortly after that, about a week or so after the grass has stopped growing for this year, and still quite a few weeks before the ground will freeze.

The newly-applied lime will benefit from being on the lawn over the winter to percolate (not sure that's the right word) down into the soil over the winter, particularly through any freeze/thaw cycles that take place. You'll be in better shape for spring 2021 for having applied the lime in late fall of 2020.

If the budget can handle it, I'd also do a new soil test from the lawn in the spring before making additional lime applications. If you think you're going to need lime applications, many folks here would suggest making sure that the soil test you get done includes a "buffer test" for lime (BpH) to be able to better gauge how much lime will be needed.


----------



## Jersey_diy (Sep 5, 2020)

I did not apply any lime at the time of seeding, just the spring time lime application. I plan on doing a skill test yearly in three spring just before my first pre emergent app. I used mysoil soil test, it's very adorable so doing it really isn't an issue.

I have clay soil and some pine trees so I expect that like applications will be a part of life for a bit.. but I still need to get the soil test to make sure my other levels are getting better


----------



## ken-n-nancy (Jul 25, 2017)

Is your spring soil test posted here somewhere? It would be good to consider how much lime you applied since then, and how much you would be applying this fall after growth stops, in order to confirm that you don't cause overshoot on your pH. That's not very likely if your pH is really 5.17, but it's still good to be cautious about it, as overshoot isn't readily fixable.

Seeing your percentages of calcium and magnesium would also determine if a calcitic lime or dolomitic lime is more appropriate.


----------



## ken-n-nancy (Jul 25, 2017)

ken-n-nancy said:


> Is your spring soil test posted here somewhere?


@Jersey_diy, I just did a search on the site to see if I could find a posting with your soil test results in it.

I didn't find your soil test results, but came across the below post from @g-man:



g-man said:


> Mysoil values normally don't reflect the real soil pH. I would not use this to try to correct it. A good lab will tell you exactly how much lime to use.


If g-man thinks it is unwise to use mysoil test results for lime application, I'd suggest you get a soil test done by a better lab.

Check out the Popular Soil Fertility and Soil Testing Threads "sticky" post for info on Selecting a Soil Test Laboratory.


----------



## Jersey_diy (Sep 5, 2020)

Here is a image of my soil test. I have gotten a soil test from my local extension before and ph has always been an issue. Just to reiterate this was done at very early spring before my pre emergent application.


----------

