There may be enough aluminum present to be toxic to plants, and nutrients may be tied up in forms that are unavailable to plants. The only solution for low pH is to apply agricultural grade limestone. Lime can be applied to the lawn surface at any time of the year, and it will not harm the grass. The drawback, however, is that surface applications work very slowly to raise soil pH. Therefore, whenever you establish a new lawn, take advantage of the opportunity to mix the lime thoroughly into the soil before planting. In the piedmont and mountain regions of the state, another soil problem is low levels of phosphorus.
Lawn grasses require adequate amounts of phosphorus in the root zone to survive.
Like lime, phosphorus moves very slowly through the soil. For routine maintenance situations, a surface application of phosphorus is adequate. However, the ideal way to manage a phosphorus problem is to till fertilizer into the soil before planting seed or laying sod. Spring-seeded grass is hard to establish successfully and may have to be reseeded in the fall. Cool-season grasses are usually sown at a rate of 6 pounds per 1000 square feet.