Want Greener Grass? Try Epsom Salts

Everyone wants their lawn to look as lush and green as possible, it’s one of the least expensive methods for giving your home nice curb appeal (whereas brown, patchy grass is one of the first things that can downgrade your property value).

Here’s a tip to help give your lawn a boost: Epsom Salts can be used as a natural lawn fertilizer. I’ve included a bit of information about why this works and added a few recipes below to help you get started.

From the Epsom Salt Council (Why It Works In The Garden), Magnesium and sulfur are the two major components of Epsom Salt:

Magnesium is:

• A critical mineral for seed germination.
• Vital to the production of chlorophyll, which plants use to transform sunlight into food.
• An aid in the absorption of phosphorus and nitrogen, two of the most important fertilizer components.

Sulfur, the other major component of Epsom Salt, is also an important plant nutrient.

Sulfer may:

• Contribute to chlorophyll production.
• Make the primary nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) found in most fertilizers more effective.

Green Grass Recipe & Fertilizer: Apply 3 pounds of Epsom Salts for every 1,250 square feet with a spreader, or dilute in water and apply with a sprayer.

Homemade Lawn Fertilizer Recipe
Source: The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Household Solutions By Melodie Moore

1 cup Espom Salts
1 cup Household Ammonia

• Watering Can Method: Combine ingredients in a clean jar. Mix 2 tablespoons of the mixture with 2 gallons of water in a watering can, and sprinkle over 150 to 200 square feet of turf.
• Hose Sprayer Method: Mix the entire batch with enough water to make a quart of liquid. Pour the liquid into the sprayer. A quart of diluted fertilizer will cover about 2,500 square feet of grass.

Lawn Care Tips:

• Avoid a heavy dose of fertilizer for your lawn in the middle of summer, this can stimulate weed growth (See Homemade Weed Killer Recipes & Tips).
• Always apply fertilizer to damp, never dry, soil.

Jerry Baker’s Lawn Recipe For Spring
Source: Jerry Baker’s Green Grass Magic By Jerry Baker

3 pounds Epsom salts
1 bag 20-5-10 slow-release dry lawn food (enough for 2,500 square feet)

• Directions: Mix the epsom salts with the lawn food. Apply half of this mixture at half the recommended rate with spreader set on medium.

I don’t believe Epsom Salts are considered a true organic fertilizer for lawns, but it is considered a more natural method than some commercial product applications.

Also check out this Secret Lawn Tonic Recipe, it uses soda pop, beer, mouthwash and a few other ingredients.

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