How to Make My Soil Chalky

Test your soil's pH level with a testing kit purchased from a garden center. Test your soil in several locations throughout the lawn or garden. A single sample may give you skewed results if the test is made of a patch of soil that happens to be particularly high or low in acid or alkalinity. Note the current pH levels, and average them.

Read the growing instruction for the plant you intend to grow in the soil to determine the best pH levels for that plant. This will give you an indication of how much lime you'll need to add to make the soil chalky enough for your needs.

Use a garden fork or larger pitchfork to break up the soil where you wish to add lime. Place the tines of the fork as deeply as possible into the soil, then use a twisting, prying motion to break up the soil and loosen it.

Sprinkle the lime evenly over the broken soil. Increase the pH in your soil by 1 point by adding 4 oz. of lime for every square yard of sandy soil. Increase the lime to 8 oz. per square yard when dealing with loamy soil, 12 oz. for a square yard of clay soil, and 25 oz. for every square yard of peaty soil.

Work the lime into the top 6 inches of the soil with the garden fork.

Test the soil to determine if the pH has been raised. If you need to raise it further, repeat the process. Raise the soil pH slowly over several seasons to avoid raising it too far.