Uneven Lime Application Left Light Colored Grass Patches

Question

Uneven lime application left light colored grass patches. Any way to remedy this? I live in CT and we inherited a beautiful, golf course type lawn, which has a great sprinkler system. My genius husband decided he was going to apply lime and wanted to “test” it first. His way of doing this was tossing sprinkles of it using his hand. That was last year. Now, you can literally see the spots scattered around the lawn where he threw down the lime. They are lighter in color and the grass is finer than the rest of the lawn. Is there ANYTHING I can do to counteract the light color, like spray on diluted nitrogen pellets or diluted sulfur? I’ve been trying to educate myself about it but am not feeling confident in how to counteract the spots. Is the only alternatve to dig up these manhole-cover-sized spots and treat the soil and reseed?

Answer 1

If your husband wants to care for the new lawn himself rather than have professionals do it, there’s a lot to learn. Here are a couple of articles to get him started: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/lawn-care/lgen/so-you-want-your-grass-to-grow.htm
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/lawn-care/specific/
The effects of too much lime can be mitigated over time by the addition of horticultural sulfur, chelated iron, or iron sulfate. Another treatment would be extra water, to wash away the excess lime, but only if the soil is well drained. Grass likes pH 6.0 – 7.0. Test the pH every month or so; you may want to reseed or sod the discolored places when the pH returns to normal. This article will tell you more about soil pH. https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/soil-fertilizers/soil-ph-plants.htm