In a recent column I discussed the benefits of liming gardens, lawns and planting beds in late fall. Since I didn't talk about how much lime to use and how often to apply it, I'll provide those details now. For an established lawn, figure about 25 pounds of lime per 1,000 square feet. When you apply more than that, it tends to cake unhelpfully on the lawn's surface.
On planting beds and in gardens, you can apply more. In the absence of soil test results, apply up to 50 pounds per 1,000 square feet. If a soil test indicates soil with a pH of 5 or less, you can approach double that amount per 1,000 square feet.
The benefits of an application of lime typically last three to five years. So don't make automatic annual applications unless a soil test indicates a deficiency.
When you're liming your garden, don't forget the spot where you'll grow tomatoes next year. Besides making a range of plant nutrients more available, lime supplies calcium to the soil. The availability of calcium is part of preventive strategy against blossom end rot, a common disease of tomatoes in our area.
Blossom end rot is not caused by a pathogen; rather the darkened calluses on the ends of the fruit are the result of calcium deficiency in the fruit tissue. By providing calcium in the form of lime, you can prevent or reduce the severity of the disease. The key is applying the lime in late fall so the calcium is ready for uptake by plants the following spring. Applying it when you notice blossom end rot on the fruits is ineffective.
Though most plants benefit from occasional liming, there are a few you can spare from this attention. Acid soil-lovers like rhododendrons, azaleas and blueberries come to mind. Add potatoes to that list. In fact, if you know where you'll grow them next year, designate your potato patch as a no lime-area. Sweetening the soil with lime encourages scab on the spuds.
Do fertilize lawns in late fall
November is an ideal time to fertilize lawns. In fact, if you plant to fertilize your grass only once during the year, choose November. Why? In late fall, grass leaves make little growth. They do carry on photosynthesis, though. Some of the food they make in this process promotes root growth and the rest is stored in the roots. With the return of warmer weather in spring, this stored food fuels leaf growth.
A late fall fertilizer application boosts root development and food storage. Those processes are more important to the health of a lawn than the top growth stimulated by fertilizing in the warmer months.
Stow the fertilizer until spring
Once you've fertilized your lawn, it's time to put away the fertilizer until spring. Fertilizing now works against the agenda of most plants, which is to go dormant. If we were to experience a warm spell, that fertilizer could promote new growth which would be savaged in the inevitable return of chilly weather. Moreover, there would almost certainly be some runoff and leaching of nutrients during the wet months of winter.
Most plants begin serious growth in early spring. That's when to think about breaking out the fertilizer. EXCEPT for grass, which should be growing just fine, and without any need for a boost from fertilizer.
A holiday gift for a serious vegetable gardener
As I think about the number of cool springs in the last decade, it's clear that heat mats have been critical to my gardening success. Besides tomatoes and peppers, I start beans, broccoli, cabbage, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, lettuce and squash over heat mats. The mats make for ideal germination temperatures. Once seedlings are up, and hardened off, they tolerate outdoor conditions that would be ruinous to seed.
A serious vegetable gardener would be delighted to receive a heat mat as a holiday gift. My favorite is the 37-inch by 16-inch metal framed mat from Electra-Grow. You should be able to order it or other mats on line.
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