A: None!

Please, please do not add lime to your Florida yards unless you have had a soil test that indicates you need it. I have had hundreds of soil test results and only one person has ever had to add lime. I know it is a common practice in northern states to add lime to lawns, but our lawngrass prefers an acid soil (low pH).

Liming the yard raises the pH, which places undue stress on the lawn’s ability to absorb important nutrients and minerals. If the pH is too high, it is possible to kill the grass completely. It scares me when I go to garden centers and see large pallets of lime that get shorter and shorter each time I visit. Someone is buying this stuff by the bag full and it should not be the person caring for the lawn. Lime is an important part of vegetable gardening but not lawns. Have I beaten that dead horse enough?

You can submit a soil sample to our office (either in Callahan or Yulee) in a paper bag and I will run a pH test free of charge. Please submit only one or two samples as each sample takes about 30 minutes to process and I do not have staff to do this for me. A full nutrient analysis can be run by the University of Florida for a $7 charge per sample, which will include a pH test. Each office has soil test kits you can pick up during normal office hours. Call 904 – 530-6350 for more information.

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