Garden Lime Uses

Garden lime is not a product to be used indiscriminately.

Garden lime uses. The ph scale measures hydrogen ions on a scale ranging from 0 to 14. Quicklime is produced by burning. The two types of lime that gardeners should become familiar with are agricultural lime and dolomite lime. Quicklime and slaked or hydrated lime.

Use the soil test results to determine how much lime to apply. Agricultural lime also called aglime agricultural limestone garden lime or liming is a soil additive made from pulverized limestone or chalk the primary active component is calcium carbonate additional chemicals vary depending on the mineral source and may include calcium oxide unlike the types of lime called quicklime calcium oxide and slaked lime calcium hydroxide powdered limestone. It is a great product however only for some plants. The best time apply lime is in autumn and this is simply because many of the fertilisers applied in spring are high nitrogen and these do not perform well with.

Those terms refer to the far extremes of the scale with 0 being a pure acid and 14 being a pure alkaline. When you buy dolomite garden lime it has been ground into granules that can be coarse or very fine or it could be turned into a prill a pellet not necessary but easier to apply. Lime raises ph and is usually added as ground limestone commonly called garden lime. It is a useful substance when used properly but it is also possible to misuse it and cause harm to your plants.

Lime is also available as prilled lime or granular lime which means small pellets or balls. Most plants prefer a ph between 5 5 and 6 5. We hear a lot about using garden lime its uses application rates and generally the talk is all about dolomite lime. Dolomite lime fertilizer is certainly allowed in organic gardening.

These are easier to apply over large areas as you can use a machine spreader. If the ph. There are different kinds of lime not all of which are preferred for landscaping purposes. Before learning more about lime and garden lime uses it s important to understand a basic chemistry concept called ph.

Ground limestone is easy to spread widely offered in garden centres and is the recommended liming material for gardeners. For example if your current soil ph is between 5 8 and 5 2 apply 5 to 10 pounds of lime per 50 square feet. Lime adds these two essential elements to the soil but it is more commonly used to correct the soil ph. Agricultural lime also sold as garden lime is made from calcium carbonate.

You ve probably heard the terms acid and alkaline. The active ingredient is calcium carbonate. Dolomite lime is similar to garden lime but contains a higher percentage of magnesium. Two types of lime are commonly used in lawns and gardens agricultural lime and dolomitic lime.

Both types of lime contain calcium and dolomite lime also contains magnesium.