Lime / Gypsum application

To continue this weeks update we applied our lime/gypsum application. Normally lime is applied to adjust PH of the soil. It still amazes me how old wives tales still prevail and people will tell me or ask me about annual lime applications on their lawn. The reasoning is something like the acid rain in New England or the acidity of the oak leaves etc. I ask them how many years they have done it and hear every for the last 20 or something equally astonishing. I then ask when the last time they had a soil test? A what? Based on soil tests here we did not apply lime for four or five years. Now we cannot add enough amendments to try and correct our soil because what the salt water intrusion we have in our well does to it. We apply high calcium lime or gypsum to help flush the sodium cation off the soil particle and balance the soil. If we did not have our poor water issue we would correct the soil and it would stay corrected until something else caused it to change. Could be years. Unfortunately the addition of salt is an annual occurrence and so the need to amend is annual.

Matt spreading lime/gypsum

I had the pleasure of spreading the product because Will was busy wrapping up the sprayer project putting the last of the new/used boom on and running it through its paces. Next we will calibrate it and give it a test run with something safe like a wetting agent in case the numbers are off. Our next spray will be a growth regulator which suppresses seed head formation on annual bluegrass. The theory behind this is to save the energy which would be put out to produce all the seed heads which in turn will make the plant healthier and stronger. It is also done to avoid the bumpy surface caused by the seed heads.

final preparations before test run

 also this week we had our waste oil tank pumped by Safety Kleen. Waste oil is considered a hazardous waste and must be disposed of properly with paperwork that proves it has been disposed of every step of the way. We will receive paperwork from the final destination that we must keep on file to prove we did in fact dispose of it the way the law requires. It has to be tested and meet certain criteria for contaminates, such as brake fluids or carburetor cleaner. We have never had a load refused and we have our 275 gallon tanks emptied about every two years.

driver pulling a sample to test for contaminates

Also this week Frank Gonsalves has been dutifully attacking the divots on the course. all the tees have been done and many fairways. The snow today although disappearing rapidly should help saturate the seeds breaking that seed coat. The first step in seed germination. A few warm days and maybe we'll get lucky and see some germination and recovery. Thought of taking a pic of Frank while I was applying gypsum but after a full day of safety training thought better of it and stayed focused on my task at hand and did not get another opportunity.