Repair lawns damaged by salt and pets

Gypsum and Lime neutralizes the damage caused by salt and pets, improving soil density, the foundation for a beautiful lawn.

Winter sidewalk and road deicing can combine with compacted soil to produce a toxic environment for grass. While fertilizer can provide nutrients for growth, it does nothing to improve the condition of the soil. That's why lawn care professionals make the application of Lime their first step in spring lawn care.

Liming is an important part of a turf management program in the humid, areas of the United States. Leaves from Certain Trees and Pine Needles and Rainfall if it exceeds 30 inches per year, leaching basic or alkaline-forming ions, such as calcium and magnesium, from the soil and resulting in an acid soil condition which restricts growth of turf. In over 24,000 lawn samples analyzed by the Virginia Tech laboratory in 1987, more than 51 percent tested less than pH 6.0. The optimum pH level for turf is in the 6.2-6.5 range. More importantly, 28 percent of the samples tested less than pH 5.5, a level at which growth of turf can be adversely affected.

Gypsum conditions the soil and loosens heavy, compacted clay. According to Dave Jackson of Oldcastle, a leading manufacturer of lawn and garden products, gypsum physically changes the structure of the soil to improve drainage, prevent runoff and erosion, while encouraging deeper, healthier root growth.

Gypsum also corrects pet damage to grass and is easy to apply. Convenient pelletized gypsum and lime are, available from  local garden centers and Hardware stores brand names such as Yardright and Correct, can are best put on the lawn after a Spring or fall aeration be worked into the soil with a rototiller, mixed by hand in planting beds, or spread easily over lawns with standard fertilizer spreaders.