Fixing My Ugly Lawn & Lowering My Soil pH

In one month my ugly lawn has recovered from a huge fungus infestation and I am continuing to work on lowering my soil pH. Here I talk about what I have been doing to help my lawn recover from the fungus as well as what I'm doing to lower my soil pH. I am having a lot of fun learning and experiencing lots of new things in my first year of maintaining this larger lawn. I hope you all follow along with me.
Find your local county extension office: www.almanac.com/content/coope...
Where I got the products used in this video:
Citric Acid: www.dudadiesel.com/search.php...
Propiconazole: www.domyown.com/propiconazole...
I purchased the elemental sulfur and ammonium sulfate from a local store near me.
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 Intro
0:26 Mowing Montage
1:08 Before & After Lawn Footage
3:38 What I'm Using to Lower My Soil pH & Cure Fungus
6:54 August and Fall Lawn Plans
7:18 Where to Get Help on Your Lawn
8:33 Final Thought & Conclusion
8:49 Raised Garden Bed Update / Bonus Clips
If you enjoy my content please subscribe to my channel and hit the like button. If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment or send me an email. Thank you for watching!
#uglylawn
#lawngoals
#thelawnguardian
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[@tonybowman32]

It’s nice how those guys are kind enough to help DIY folks out.

[@TheLawnGuardian]

It sure is. We're extremely fortunate that they are so willing to give us their time and knowledge. Thank you for watching and support my channel!

[@tonybowman32]

The Lawn Guardian your welcome! Nice work getting it looking good again. I got hit with some disease as well. Not as bad but I think I got it fixed now. It’s a never ending process but I love it!

[@LawnImprovement]

Wow, that was a quick turnaround... Even during the heat of the summer. Incredible!

[@TheLawnGuardian]

I was very shocked to see this. Looking forward to continuing this improvement during Fall.

[@shinigami_597]

What a great recovery from that aggressive fungus. I came across your video and even though it us now 2 years old the content is still great and relevant. I'm dealing with fungus issues in lawn now for some time and just trying to get to the bottom of it. It's a challenge and a lot of work but hopefully with some tips from your video I will be able to tame things and make the lawn healthy again.

[@jfarm_1311]

Nice to see the quick turnaround. Looks much better

[@TheLawnGuardian]

Thank you! I am pretty shocked it's doing as well as it is. I'm looking forward to building on this moving into Fall. Thanks for the support!

[@joshbaker1639]

That’s quite the turnaround, awesome results man!!

[@TheLawnGuardian]

Thanks! It'll be awesome to keep building on this improvement moving into Fall. Thanks for watching!

[@LawnJourneys]

Looking great. Fantastic explanation of why you used products and how they react in the soil. 😊

[@TheLawnGuardian]

Thank you! I'm glad my explanations were clear. All of this stuff is new to me so I'm learning with all of you. Thank you for watching and supporting my channel!

[@RVALawnLove]

Told you that you’d knock it out of the park! Nice job Ben

[@TheLawnGuardian]

Thanks, Erik! I had my doubts for sure. I truly didn't think I'd see much recovery until Fall.

[@SunnyBermuda]

🌞That heat gave you quite a hit. Recovery looks good. Great info!🌞

[@TheLawnGuardian]

It sure did. Thanks for watching and the support!

[@Aerialphotovito]

Great Job Ben ! It really recovered well thanks for sharing these tips and the tomato plants look awesome too

[@TheLawnGuardian]

Thanks, Vito! I'm still a bit shocked on it's recovery. It's been fun learning about this info. We'll definitely get to harvest some tomatoes too.

[@PacificNorthwestLawns]

Man what a fantastic recovery. Looks great Ben!

[@TheLawnGuardian]

Thank you. I owe it to all of the professionals in this community that lend a helping hand and educate us DIYers.

[@PacificNorthwestLawns]

@@TheLawnGuardian several have been helpful to me when I needed it. It's great to have that resource.

[@JimmyLewisMows]

Excellent job. Looks so much better.

[@TheLawnGuardian]

Thanks, Jimbo! The credit really goes all to Mr. Martin. He helped me a ton! Thanks for watching and commenting as always!

[@ourmissouriyard3739]

That is some great improvement! That has to feel good.

[@TheLawnGuardian]

Indeed it does. I am still shocked how it has done. I'm looking forward to building on this improvement moving into Fall! Thanks for tuning in fellow Missourian.

[@1975oldschool]

Amazing transformation!

[@TheLawnGuardian]

Thank you sir! I always appreciate your support!

[@jeff.schulze]

Great recovery! I'm sure the last few days of no humidity and cooler temps will help even more.

[@TheLawnGuardian]

Thanks, Jeff! Yeah it was these last few days have been pretty awesome. August looks like it's going to be a cooler than normal month. Hopefully, September isn't a payback month. I hope your lawns doing well. Thanks for watching fellow STL LCN!

[@BermudaBrian]

Citric acid.... Never would have even thought of that.... Lawn looking good!!! Nice turn around!!

[@TheLawnGuardian]

Neither would I. I had not heard of that until I started to do a bit more research. Thank for watching and supporting my channel!

[@LawnDad]

Great recovery!

[@TheLawnGuardian]

Thank you!

[@marthaphillips5032]

Great job Ben.

[@TheLawnGuardian]

Thanks, Martha!

[@TMF-8400]

It looks great Ben.

[@TheLawnGuardian]

Thank you! I couldn't have done it without Matt

[@lxiong1077]

Wow nice recovery!

[@TheLawnGuardian]

Thank you!

[@aquienpuedainteresar4188]

Lawn recovered really well. I got a pretty bad case of necrotic ring patch and got a lot of damage. Wish I had such a great team of advisors to call upon. Can't wait to see what you got for us this fall.

[@TheLawnGuardian]

Thanks, Juan! I have no doubt these same folks would lend a helping hand. I be doing a video on planning for my Fall overseeding project soon! Thanks for watching and supporting my channel!

[@TurfCulture]

Looking much better!!! I’m going to add time Aliette to my fugicide rotation next season, hard lesson learned this year.

[@TheLawnGuardian]

Thanks, Brandon. I'll be doing additional planning for my fungus strategy next year in the off season.

[@Sol_Bull]

Good stuff!

[@TheLawnGuardian]

Thank you!

[@teamclarktrackfield]

Absolutely a night and day difference 👍🏽. I also reached out to John Perry (via his soil test reading service on his website) and received the best advice. I am ready for fall and also for next Spring. I used one of the preferred soil test labs that he recommended, and it was a breeze. John responded super quick, gave a detailed analysis, and clear and easy to understand recommendations.

[@TheLawnGuardian]

JP is a great resources and has been a big help for me as well! I hope you have a successful Fall season. Thanks for watching and for your support!

[@bbcamillo]

Wow what a difference! Thanks for the info on how you applied the citric acid and sulphur. Rey and Matt prescribed the same for me, since my ph tested out to 7.7. I’ve been a little bit chicken to move forward with all this heat. Thanks for leading out!

[@TheLawnGuardian]

Rey and Matt are awesome! Rey was the one that helped guide me on how to apply the citric acid. Thanks for watching and good luck with your lawn!

[@valleygirl670]

@@TheLawnGuardian guardian, wont the citric acid kill the good grasses?

[@TheLawnGuardian]

@@valleygirl670 no. It can hurt it to some degree if you spray on a hot sunny day but that's why spraying early morning or late evening is preferred, then immediately water it in.

[@tylergoodwin58]

Nice content

[@TheLawnGuardian]

Thank you!

[@donslawns1]

Loved it bro!! I’ve found that the quick connects can be a pain if they lose their ball bearings, essentially- they just pop off. Lol

[@TheLawnGuardian]

Lol! I just got those and for some reason I thought they were the quick connects that work like air compressor hose connections where the water can remain on while changing attachments.

[@donslawns1]

The Lawn Guardian 🤣 some of mine were like that, but they didn’t last too long. Lol

[@CaseyBieker]

Oh man, your situation is extremely similar to what I am dealing with. I think I am just spinning my wheels until I get my PH down. Yours is actually higher than mine, mine was right at 8. I was told though that with the heavy clay that I have, to lower the PH one point it would take over 100lbs. of sulfer but obviously I can only apply 5lbs at a time without zorching my grass. The citric acid is interesting, I had not heard of that. Nice recovery though, hoping I can do the same!

[@TheLawnGuardian]

The citric acid helps the elemental sulfer bring the pH down a bit quicker by helping the micro organisms in the soil break it down quicker. Don't get me wrong, adjusting pH take time regardless. Time and patience is a must in the lawn. Thank you for watching!

[@raincheck90]

How much water was mixed with the one pound of Citric Acid in your sprayer?

[@Johnny53kgb-nsa]

Wow, great job Ben. Can you link the propiconazole 14.3 for fungus control ? My ph is 6.3, so not bad. I'm waiting on lab results for lawn disease/ brown patch/heat stress. I may look into the fungus control you used though for future reference. I appreciate it. Thanks, John

[@TheLawnGuardian]

Thanks, John! All of the credit goes to Matt Martin for helping me with all of this. Here the link to where I got my propiconazole. www.domyown.com/propiconazole-143-p-16567.html I'm going to put it in the description of this video as well. Thanks for watching and supporting my channel!

[@TheLawnStripes]

Told ya that sulfur/citric acid is awesome.

[@TheLawnGuardian]

I'm a believer fo sho! Still got more work to do on the pH.

[@pianovenezolanoBlogspot]

What a great recover bro, I hace the exact same problem, I am in summer here in chile, Found iprodione to treat fungus, could you share how Many times did you Apply the fungicide? Did you also reseed or waited yo autumm to do it? Thanks un advance

[@TheLawnGuardian]

I only made one fungicide application to cure the lawn at its worst. I did not overseed when all of this was taking place. I waited until fall, but I really didn't need to overseed since most of the damaged areas recovered. I overseeded in the fall mainly to add better cultivars to my lawn. Thank you for watching and for your support! Good luck with your lawn!

[@himeshpattani]

HI, my lawn looked really good until June and then i started to get brown spots in the lawn.I had a soil test done,very high Nitrogen and phosphorus,high on Potassium,Calcium and Magnesium.The pH is 5.24.I am going to aerate,de thatch,lime,reseed ,add pre emergent and apply top soil in fall.I live in western Washington.i will be using Anderson barricade pre emegent and I am not sure if I should reseed with pre emergent

[@TheLawnGuardian]

If you're going to seed, you won't want to use barricade because it will prevent your seed from germinating. Good luck with your lawn this Fall!

[@TheLawnTools]

I just heard Jesse Pinkman throughout the video saying “Science B....!” 😁👍🏼

[@TheLawnGuardian]

LOL! Yes! It's been pretty dang cool to see it begin to turn around. Thanks for watching, Jordan!

[@kove]

Mr Martin always comes through. He's a clutch hitter. Side note: what was the SGN of the Ammonium Sulfate?

[@TheLawnGuardian]

Yeah he's awesome. I'm not sure on the SGN of the sprayable AMS I'm using. I got it from Rural King and it doesn't mention that info on the bag.

[@kove]

@@TheLawnGuardian Ah yes, forgot you dissolved it. I made the mistake of using one with too big SGN and it couldn't go through the canopy.

[@TheLawnGuardian]

@@kove Yeah this stuff was super easy to dissolve.

[@windycityrider]

Can you please provide links to where you purchased your Elemental Sulfur, Ammonium Sulfate, & Citric Acid please?

[@TheLawnGuardian]

Hey! So unfortunately I purchase all my elemental sulfur and ammonium sulfate from local stores but I did get my citric acid from here: www.dudadiesel.com/search.php?query=citric+acid You should be able to find some elemental sulfur and ammonium sulfate on Amazon btut you'll likely pay a good amount on shipping. I'd recommend doing a search around your area for turf management stores or something like that to see if you can these products locally. Thanks for watching and for supporting my channel.

[@michaelhughes4441]

Hello so u u mix the citric acid Crystals with water then spray on lawn or do you spread the citric acid Crystal over the lawn and hose in ?

[@TheLawnGuardian]

I mixed it in my backpack sprayer and sprayed it on the lawn, then immediately watered it in. I would actually water the lawn a little prior to spraying to help minimize it from drying before watering it in. I did this in the early morning before it ever got hot.

[@3joewj]

Video starts at 3:47👍

[@brenmichael1806]

Hey I live in 6b Michigan and I'm wondering what type of fungicide did you use for getting rid of the silver dollar in your lawn.

[@TheLawnGuardian]

Hey there! I used propiconazole for the dollar spot fungus I had.

[@brenmichael1806]

Ty very much. I guess is too late to apply it now so I'll wait till the spring and I'll apply it in the areas that had the fungus. I put down that carbonx about 3wks. ago my grass came back beautiful beautiful, thanks again.

[@timberhills1778]

@@TheLawnGuardian if I put down the same fungicide and it rained on it some will it still work You think?

[@murphytoadster9864]

This guy reminds me of Kyle Reese from first Terminator💪

[@TheLawnGuardian]

LOL! Thanks for watching!

[@nickalton]

QQ…I noticed you bagged your clippings. Is that because you don’t want the fungus going back into lawn?

[@TheLawnGuardian]

Yes, sir! Any time you have fungus in the lawn, it's a good idea to bag your clippings to help prevent it from spreading more.

[@seansmidwestlawn8991]

No more fungus among us!

[@TheLawnGuardian]

This is true. Thanks for watching!

[@vinnypinatelli221]

My soil test showed 7.23 for my ph can I just use one or do I need both citric acid and ammonium sulfate

[@TheLawnGuardian]

Hey Vinny! I don't think I'm the right person to ask. I would think using both would be a good idea but I'm gonna have to refer you to Matt Martin of your local county extension office to get the right information for your situation. I wish I could be more helpful but I don't want to give you the wrong information. Thank you for watching and your support and good luck with your lawn!

[@vinnypinatelli221]

I understand thanks anyway I'll see if he will help and if not my local office for sure will thanks brother good luck with yours also cant wait for the next video

[@TheLawnGuardian]

@@vinnypinatelli221 Thank you and good luck in your lawn this Fall!

[@codysmith3271]

What did u get the ph down to?

[@TheLawnGuardian]

Just got my soil test back. Before all of the applications it was an 8.3 and now it's a 7.8.

[@codysmith3271]

@@TheLawnGuardian cool! I am in a similar situation and trying to set realistic expectations. How many apps of elemental sulfur, lbs of ammonium sulphate, etc altogether to get that result?

[@felipegeronimo6785]

Ben? Ben from FMCC? No way -Little Bones

[@TheLawnGuardian]

Yup! I ran at Flower Mound High School. That years did you run there?

[@RogerSmith-tk1up]

I am dealing with exactly the same thing! Almost identical soil ph. Indiana subsoil lawn. I have applied sulfur and citric acid but not at the same time. I did not know that tip. Also in addition to propocanazal, I have applied armada. Thanks for doing this video, you have given me some ideas and I can say, your lawn is recovering much faster than mine!

[@TheLawnGuardian]

Thanks for watching Roger! I'm glad this was helpful, all of the credit goes to Matt Martin. He has helped a ton.

[@jamesb.8201]

First

[@kenanderson1240]

Wow, can you talk fast. Good content if you can remember what you said. B

[@TheLawnGuardian]

Thanks for the support!