The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California
Small Home Landscaping
This is not a fertilizer. It is a soil reagent. Enough will change a soil to the acid side. How much you should use to get a specific reaction is hard to say. Only by a careful test before and after application can you tell how much you need. Too much applied at once will cause trouble. It is suggested by many authorities that more than 1 lb. per 100 square feet at one application is dangerous. If more is needed, it is applied over a period of months to avoid a too sudden change. The other chemical suggested is sulphur. This is less sudden in action.
Lime
Just as an alkaline soil is changed by the means suggested, an acid soil is changed by the use of lime which supplies calcium. Plants need calcium, too. Lime is convenient, easy to apply and, unless used in excessive amounts, no damage can occur. Lime is easily washed out of the soils by rains and by constant watering. It must be replaced or the soil will become acid. If you use large quantities of organic matter in the vegetable or flower garden, if, in addition, you do a lot of watering, it is fairly certain that lime is needed. The acids generated by the bacteria, already referred to, can be neutralized only by using lime which enables the bacteria to continue their benefical work.
Lime is sold in three different forms; hydrated or builders' lime, hot lime and as pulverized or agricultural lime. The latter is the best for gardens and is merely limestone rock ground to a powder, the action being slower than builders' lime. The latter, as rock, was heated, then given water. Hot lime is dangerous and is not used in gardens.
The quantity to use will depend upon the kind of soil and the kind of gardening done. Heavy soils need more than light sandy soils. More lime is needed when much organic matter is present than on soils low in this substance. It is generally accepted that an average soil somewhat on the heavy side and with a fair supply of organic matter will need about 75 lbs. per 1000 square feet, using agricultural lime. If builders' lime is used, less is needed—around 60 lbs. over the same area.
Lime is applied to the surface, not dug in. Rains and other moisture sources will take it into the soil. Lime is not easy to spread evenly. If done by hand, the lime is best mixed with several times its bulk with sand, screened soil or ashes. It is best applied in late fall, winter or early spring.
Compost Making
Since organic matter is so important to gardens, the best source for the small place is a compost pile. This is composed of various materials collected during summer and fall. Most gardens collect weeds, vegetable and flower tops, kitchen waste and similar materials as well as grass clippings and those from the hedge.
