Best Soil Amendments for Lawns

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If you are frustrated by grass that never seems to grow, poor soil is probably the culprit. Discover the best soil amendments for lawns from the experts at Jonathan Green.

Jonathan Green has been growing beautiful lawns for six generations (since 1881). Today, we are a major supplier of genetically superior cool season grass seed, fertilizers, soil enhancers, organics, and weed, insect, and disease control products to the professional lawn care markets. Our products will transform your lawn and help it thrive.

Create a Healthier Soil

Great lawns only happen when genetically superior turfgrass varieties, like those in our Black Beauty® Grass Seed Mixtures, are planted in healthy, biologically active soil.

Most soils contain a vast array of living organisms that range from larger creatures, such as earthworms and insects, to microscopic invertebrates, bacteria, fungi, yeasts, algae, and protozoa. All of these organisms affect the health of turfgrass in important ways.

Microorganisms occur in turfgrass soils in extremely high populations, making soil among the most dynamic sites of biological activity in nature. It’s very possible that more biological diversity exists among the microorganisms in an ounce of soil than in the entire Amazon Rainforest!

Microorganisms allow nature to continue its endless cycle of life and renewal. They are responsible for the following functions in the soil:

They create a healthy, porous soil that is rich in oxygen and capable of sustaining plant life.
They transform important organic and mineral nutrients in the soil into forms that green plants, like turfgrass, can absorb. These elements include nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, and many more.
Microorganisms cause the degradation of pesticides and other chemicals found in the soil and protect grass plants from these potentially harmful substances.
Good microorganisms outnumber the bad, helping to suppress them.

Increasing the quantity of organic matter in the soil will naturally cause an explosion of microorganisms in it. As the food source increases, the number of microbes will increase.

Try Mag-I-Cal® Plus

Use a Soil pH Test Kit for Lawns to check the pH of your soil. You can buy one at your local hardware store or garden center or at JonathanGreen.com.

The pH level of the soil is vital to growing lush, green lawns. On a scale of 1 to 14, a pH of 1 is very acidic and a pH of 14 is very alkaline (or basic), while a pH reading of 7 is neutral. Lawns grow best in soil that is slightly acidic to neutral (between 6.2 and a 7.0 on the pH scale), and a balanced pH will increase microbial activity in the soil.

Jonathan Green Mag-I-Cal® Plus is a unique soil food that combines Mag-I-Cal® and Love Your Soil®. It rapidly adjusts soil pH, loosens hard soil, and activates microbes to create a biologically healthy soil.

If your soil’s pH is too low, treat it with Mag-I-Cal® Plus for Lawns in Acidic & Hard Soil. Our innovative formula will quickly raise the soil pH and feed soil microbes with humates to help the lawn grow greener and healthier. It can be applied the same day as the grass seed is spread.

When soil pH is too high, Jonathan Green’s Mag-I-Cal® Plus for Lawns in Alkaline & Hard Soil which contains sulfur and calcium sulfate dihydrate will lower the pH, improve root penetration, and promote growth. It can be applied the same day as the grass seed is spread.