The first person I ever saw using soap on her lawn was my Denver neighbor Mrs. Bassey back in the 80s. She was from England and had the nicest yard on the block. Mrs. Bassey would be out in her yard every few weeks with a lawn sprayer attached to her hose and filled with Ivory dish liquid. She said it broke up the clay and thatch on the ground and her lawn sure lookedāand smelledāgreat.
Around that time I came across a book by Jerry Baker, The Impatient Gardener, which contained a recipe for lawn tonic. I tried that a few times, but eventually gave way to convenience and went back to using store-bought fertilizers. It wasn’t until the past few years that I became more concerned with what exactly was IN those bags of grainy chemicals and what they might to do our pets, the wild animals visiting our yard and the environment in general.
I searched the internet for more information about DIY fertilizers, pulled out my old Impatient Gardener and compared notes. It seems the recipe hasn’t changed, but I was curious why those particular ingredients were being used. Just what do they do? I was able to find all of the ingredients at a dollar store, except for the beer. You’ll get several batches from all the ingredients except for the beer and soda, so this tonic is also inexpensive. Once I’ve applied this to my grass, I water with plain water for a while to help it soak in. Here’s the recipe:
1 cup Epsom Salts
1 cup Listerine-type mouthwash
1 cup liquid dish soap (not antibacterial, as plain and simple as possible)
1 cup ammonia
1 bottle of cheap beer
1 can of sugary soda
Put all ingredients into a one quart hose-end sprayer. I was able to get one from Ace Hardware (“Use 7 ways” says the label) that I could attach to a hose on the input side, another (short) hose on the output side and then add an oscillating sprinkler. If you don’t have an extra hose or sprinkler you’ll just have to stand around for a while and spray your lawn by hand. The book says it will cover up to 2500 square feet and should be used in May and again in late June, but I don’t suppose it would hurt to use it more often if it’s very dry in your area. And of course don’t water during the heat of the day, it’s wasteful and you could scorch your grass.
So does it work? I think so, my lawn looks great! I’ll keep applying this tonic throughout the summer and update this post if anything changes.
This is what the ingredients do:
Epsom salts: Magnesium sulfate (sulfur), 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, is also an important plant nutrient. Contributes to chlorophyll production. Makes the primary nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) found in most fertilizers more effective.
Mouthwash: Helps kills grubs and other grass-root-dining insects. Optional in my book.
Dish Soap: Liquid dish detergent has surfactants in it that help the nutrients in the fertilizer stick to and be absorbed by the grass while leaving the grass unharmed. Adding liquid dish detergent to your mix of ingredients can help the ingredients work better. DO NOT use anti-bacterial dishwashing liquid as it will kill off important microbes in the lawn and soil that help “digest” thatch. It’s also a wetting agent and will help break up clay soils and improve water absorption.
Ammonia: Rich in nitrogen, a nutrient that grass needs to be healthy.
Beer: Rich in carbohydrates, beer provides an immediate source of energy for microbes in the soil, which then release energy for the grass to use.
Soda: Carbohydrates in the sugar or high-fructose corn syrup used to sweeten them can make your lawn greener and more lush by feeding the bacteria that live in the soil. The bacteria produce nutrients that grass can readily utilize for energy. Only sugary, non-diet soft drinks should be used.
Here’s a healthy lawn ~ Cheers!
Can I water my plant leaves with it
Outdoor plants? I don’t see why not, there’s nothing in there that will burn them. Just make sure you don’t water in the glaring sun, any water on leaves during “high noon” risk burning because of the magnifying effect of water drops.
What’s a good home made fertilizer for citrus trees, I use 3 table spoon of Epsom salt
I don’t know, I’m in Colorado and citrus is not an option. I can’t even keep potted trees alive. You’ll need to Google that one. Sorry!
OK my hose end sprayer is asking for a setting with setting should I use like for the ounces and table spoons
Every 4 months around the trunk
How many ounces per gallon is your hose end spreyer
Hi Marco, my sprayer sprays 1 tablespoon per gallon of water. You should be able to smell at least the soap when you spray, but not have foam on the lawn. I will use one complete recipe of spray for my lawn, which is about 500 square feet.
I did it today and its smells good I spray it all over the garden on vegtebles and frute trees and on my grass
Your lawn is looking a lot better than mine at the moment!
Thanks, my back yard looks even better. The DIY fertilizer there is free-range chicken manure. I don’t have to do a thing, lol.
Is the solution with beer soda ammonia etc. pet friendly?
Yes! If you’re worried, let the solution dry a little before letting pets roam, but the ingredients are diluted so should not cause any problems.
Hi, I just used Jerry Baker’s spring cleanup tonic and washed down everything in my garden. It’s going to rain this afternoon.
How soon thereafter can I use the lawn green up recipe above? The mosquito yard spray from Jerry also has many ingredients that are used here.
I don’t want to duplicate the efforts. I believe there may be a spacing period for applications as these:
Can anyone advise withe their experience? And: how safe is this for my cats
a) spring cleanup
b) lawn greenup
c) mosquito yard spray
d) grubs
The lawn tonic gets pretty well diluted when applied with the sprayer, so I imagine you could wait a few days after the spring cleanup tonicāto give the cleanup a chance to “do its thing.” Also, once the lawn tonic is watered in, by sprinkler or rain, it should be safe for animals. I use it in my backyard and I have chickens who eat the grass, so once the tonic is washed off the blades of grass and into the soil, I let the girls free range. No problems. I have no experience with mosquito or grub spray. I don’t have problems with either, but any time I need to control a pest, such as Japanese beetles where which there is no efficient home remedy, I use biological products that are very species-specific and so will not harm anything other than the targeted species.