Liming the lawn: When, how & simultaneous fertilizing?

Here you can find out when and why you should whitewash your lawn. We also answer whether you can lime and fertilize the lawn at the same time.

In contrast to lawn fertilizer or compost, which are good for every lawn when given regularly, lime is only beneficial in very specific cases. Basically, you should never lime as a precaution, but only when the need arises. Therefore, below you will find out when your lawn really should be whitewashed. We also answer the question of whether it is possible to lime and fertilize the lawn at the same time.

Whoever speaks of lime usually means the chemical compound calcium carbonate (CaCO₃), also called carbonate of lime. This compound is one of the most common in the world. But what does lime do in the soil and how does it affect plants?

Under what circumstances should you lime the lawn?

Because by some mineral lawn fertilizers and slightly acidic rain, the pH value of the soil can fall below a value that the lawn can tolerate, liming is occasionally necessary in addition to fertilization. Unlike fertilization, the application of lime does not necessarily have to be regular. Annual liming is only necessary on very acidic sites, but this should be accompanied by regular pH checks. The following applies: Since calcium carbonate influences the pH value of the soil, liming can only make sense on the basis of an analysis of the soil pH value.

Notice: Because the acidity of the rain has since decreased due to air pollution restrictions the rain, with an average pH of 5.1 to 5.2, is no longer as acidic as it was a few years ago years.

The more lime the soil contains, the more alkaline the soil, i.e. the higher the pH value. pH is important for plants because nutrient availability changes with pH. If the soil is too acidic or too alkaline, various nutrients are bound in the soil and are less available or not available at all for plants. A pH of 4 or below can also lead to toxic concentrations of some nutrients or pollutants. For most grasses, the ideal pH value is not in the neutral but in the slightly acidic range.

More information about why the lawn needs lime, you can find out in this article from the specialist CUXIN DCM.

Lime against moss in the lawn

Heavy moss infestation can be a sign of soil acidification – but soil compaction, waterlogging, a lack of nutrients or shade are also possible causes of moss growth. Were these possibilities ruled out and had scarify, airing and sands and regular fertilizing of the lawn have no effect, changing the pH value is another adjustment screw that you can use to promote your lawn. Very clear indicators of an acidic soil are, for example sorrel (Rumex acetosella), creeping cinquefoil (Potentilla reptans) or cornflowers (Centaurea cyanus). However, adding lime can only help against moss and weeds in the lawn if a too low pH value is really the reason for their occurrence. Here you will find additional information on how to moss in the lawn Get rid of.

When is it necessary to whitewash the lawn?

• When soil pH has been tested and found to be too low
• In the case of heavy moss infestation, if other moss-promoting factors apply at best to a limited extent
• With increasing occurrence of weeds that like acidic soil (eg. B. sorrel, cornflowers etc.)

notice: Never jump to conclusions and always confirm your suspicions with a pH test. For example, you can easily carry out a pH test of the soil with the Soil analysis test set from CUXIN DCM do. Is the soil pH below 5.5? Then now is definitely the time to apply lime.

The following pH values ​​in the soil should be aimed for:

• A pH of 5.5 to 6.0 is desirable for light, sandy soils so that nutrients are optimally available
• A pH value of 6.5 to 7.5 is desirable for heavy, clayey soils so that nutrients are optimally available

How much lime does your soil need?

As a rule, soil analyzes provide information on the amount of lime to be used to achieve the desired pH value. Recommendations often refer to the calcium oxide (CaO) contained in the lime, which is also called burnt lime. Since no lime fertilizer is 100 percent pure CaO, you may need to do a small conversion. If you would like to take a closer look at the topic of soil analysis, you can read here from the experts at CUXIN DCM how the perfect garden with soil samples creates.

If the fertilizer used has an 80% lime content, it will contain 80 grams of lime for every 100 grams of fertilizer. With a required quantity of, for example, 250 grams of lime per square meter, the following calculation results.

fertilizer used: 80% CaO content = 80 g CaO per 100 g fertilizer

Required/recommended quantity (example) = 250gsm

Amount of lime fertilizer to spread = 100g / 80g x 250gsm = 313gsm

In this way, you can easily calculate the right amount of spread based on your soil analysis. For fertilizing lawns, we recommend the CUXIN DCM Green Lime with 60% CaCO₃ and 30% MgCO₃.

Tip: Slowly soluble calcium carbonate (carbonate of lime) can be used on light soils. However, the heavier a soil becomes, the less effective this type of liming becomes. Quickly soluble burnt lime is used on clayey, heavy soils. You can also use uncontaminated wood ash like burnt lime. More to Fertilize with ash find out here.

When should you lime the lawn?

How often a lawn is limed depends on the measured pH value and does not follow a regular rhythm. In the course of the year you should always lime if you have not just fertilized or will fertilize very soon. The ideal day for liming is as windless as possible. Before liming, the lawn is mowed, the whole thing can also be combined with scarifying and aerating. If it doesn't rain conveniently after liming, consider artificially watering the lawn.

Lime the lawn and fertilize at the same time?

Unfortunately, the application of lime with fertilization does not make sense. If ammonium-containing fertilizers and lime in the soil come into direct contact with each other, foul-smelling ammonia is formed, which means that nitrogen leaves the soil in gaseous form and unused. And also the bringing together of lime with superphosphate - a popular one phosphate fertilizer – is anything but sensible. This results in poorly soluble calcium phosphates, which means that both the calcium and the phosphate cannot be reached by plants and the effect of the liming is reduced.

We therefore recommend strictly separating liming and fertilizing. It is better to wait about two months after fertilization and then distribute lime. The date should be between March and November. Also note that some long-term fertilizers have a very long duration of action and that the effects should not overlap if possible.

Instructions for liming and fertilizing the lawn

The highest tolerance of lime and fertilizers is achieved when the Lawn fertilization organic he follows. The secret here lies in the slow mineralization of the organically bound nutrients. Ours is also a primarily organic lawn fertilizer Plantura organic lawn fertilizer with long-term effect. This is applied for the first fertilization after the winter in spring - depending on the soil type between February and May. In early summer, around the end of June, another lawn fertilization follows, before the end of August Preparing the lawn for winter begins.

A potassium-rich autumn lawn fertilizer is used here. After August you should by mineral fertilizers keep your hands off organic autumn lawn fertilizers like ours Plantura Organic Autumn Lawn Fertilizer but you can also bring it out at this time of year without hesitation. When fertilizing in the fall, the use of a potassium-rich autumn lawn fertilizer is extremely important in order to increase the frost hardiness of the lawn grass. The lime can then be applied about two months after the last autumn lawn fertilization.

As mentioned, there should be a gap of about two months between fertilizing and liming. An annual plan for fertilizing and liming the lawn could look like this.

March	June	August	October November
Organic Lawn Fertilizer	Organic Lawn Fertilizer	Organic autumn lawn fertilizer	lime

Can lawns be whitewashed and fertilized at the same time?

• Lime and fertilizer should not be used on the lawn at the same time, and caution should be exercised, especially with fertilizers containing ammonium and superphosphate
• There should be about two months between liming and fertilizing; the easiest way is to apply lime in the fall
• Primarily organic lawn fertilizers like our Plantura Organic Lawn Fertilizer get along best with lime

More precise information on lawn fertilization can also be found in our special article on lawn fertilization lawn fertilizing. In addition to liming and fertilizing, there are other lawn care tasks. Here you will find all information about Lawn care all year round.

Many thanks to CUXIN DCM for the support!