Not so long ago we have talked about organic maintenance for your lawn and garden. Besides mulches and organic groundcovers, gardeners all over the world swear by Epsom Salt, a natural, organic product that is cheap, available everywhere and incredibly useful as fertilizer and health adjuvant for grasses and plants. In case you never used Epsom Salt before as an essential organic ingredient in lawn care and gardening, our lawn care Sufflolk VA specialists are here to share some tips, tricks, and advice with you.
What Is Epsom Salt?
Epsom Salt is a natural mineral found in the Epsom area of the United Kingdom. It has been used successfully for hundreds of years as home remedy and gardening helper. Epsom Salt is, in fact, hydrated magnesium sulfate. If you wondered why this product is so important for fertilization and lawn care in general, let’s take a closer look:
- Magnesium: a critical mineral that plays an essential role in seed germination and the production of chlorophyll; it also boosts the production of fruits and nuts; it is also important for plants’ nutrients uptake of nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur.
- Sulfur: while plants and crops in North America don’t suffer from sulfur deficiencies, usually, sulfur is essential for the plants’ production of vitamins, amino acids, and enzymes; it is also the element that gives vegetables their flavor.
How Should You Use Epsom Salt in the Garden and Landscape?
Our lawn care Suffolk VA specialists have some recommendations for you in case you want to boost your turf and plants’ growth and health:
Water the newly planted turf seeds in spring with a mix of water and Epsom Salt to boost seeds’ growth and resilience.
Water your established turf with a mix of Epsom Salt and water at least once a month to allow the turf to grow greener, thicker, stronger, and with upright, resilient blades; soaking the turf with such a solution ensures that the grass blades don’t get curled and yellow in summer and that the turf stays strong to stomping and lawn mower stress.
Spray the leaves of the flowers, bushes or shrubs that are curled and yellow with a mix of Epsom Salt and water to compensate for the magnesium deficiency; in order to avoid curled and yellow foliage, sprinkle Epsom Salt around the flowers and shrubs once a month.
Avoid and counter transplant shock: when transplanted, flowers or shrubs suffer terrible amounts of stress and damage; soak the transplant area in a mix of Epsom Salt and water before you move in the transplant to promote root growth and regeneration and nutrients uptake.
Make your roses more colorful, more scented and more bountiful; rose growers swear by Epsom Salt to make their roses look perfect and smell excellent; soak your roses with a mix of Epsom salt and water or add some Epsom Salt on the bottom of the holes (then cover with dirt) when you plant roses.
Epsom Salt also plays an important role as pest control and weed killer. If you are interested in this organic, cheap and available product to be your gardening companion, talk to your local lawn care Suffolk VA specialists and listen to their advice.