Please Help!! Yard problem

Carl Cochran

I recently retired and decided to take care of my own grass. I havent taken care of my grass in years and I have been very pleased with my yardman but I thought being retired I would enjoy the outdoors work. I asked my yard man what type of stuff he used to make my yard so green and he said to put some lime out on it and then spray it with Cornerstone. That was about 8 days ago and now my yard looks like it is dying. I have watered it and put the lime on it but it just keeps looking worse and worse. I can't reach my yard guy. Should I put some fertilizer on it?

Thank you for your help.

ClumsyCarpenter

How much of each did you put on your yard? How big is your yard? Did you test your soil to see if you needed to add lime?

diy'er on LI

my initial thought is that you might have a pH problem from putting down too much? The fastest way to tell is to bring a soil sample to a local garden center.....

Carl Cochran

I put 10 gallons on the yard. That is what he recommended and I did not have the soil tested. I don't even know how I would do that.

diy'er on LI

I haven't done it personally, but I know that people often brought little plastic cups of soil to a nursery chain that once was near me. There they analyzed the soil sample for various things, including pH, and recommended fertilizers and other remedial techniques to get the soil back in good shape.

The main problem is finding a place that does that. Most gardening chains near me have closed... now we have either HD/lowe's (which doesn't provide such services), and family run operations. So, if your area is like mine, you'll have to find a large family run nursery that performs foils tests.

Yoyizit

From 'this old house', Jan/Feb 2009 edition.

Put a handful of dirt into a container and sprinkle vinegar on it. If it fizzes the soil is alkaline.

downunder

1. Go to HD, Mart, etc and get a $5 kit for testing pH or pH and fertility. You take a small amount of soil, mix it with water to make a slurry and pour a little of the water into a reagent.

2. Get one of the meters from the same place. They may or may not be very accurate.

3. Take a soil sample to your local county extension agent. They do a test for about $10 that will tell you everything you need to know about your soil. They will explain how to do it there.

I am not familiar with a product called Cornerstone. Do you know if this is a fertilizer, weed killer or what? May just be one I haven't used.

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