My lawn was looking fine until I applied fertilizer, crabgrass preventer and grub ex. I thought I watered my lawn immediately but my husband noticed that I didn’t and he watered it on day 2. It rained heavily within a week and the lawn looks like this now. Is this a fertilizer burn? It is looking worse day by day. Please tell me how to revive it. I already put down crabgrass preventer so can’t reseed it.
Location: Boston, MA
by lrpepper
28 Comments
Over fertilized the shit outta it lady. Brown is pretty dead. Dry. Need to reseed. Use the process in the fall. Dethatch , top soil and seed.
How much fertilizer (and what kind) did you use and over what total area of lawn?
Unfortunately it looks like fertilizer burn to me 🙁
This just happened to me, albeit on a smaller scale (bag tipped over so i just have one ginormous burn spot even after picking up as much as I could). What kind of spreader did you use? I think the only thing to do is to water it very heavily to help dilute whatever is left, but I am not an expert so this is just a best guess. So sorry and hope things work out!
First, too early for grub ex, it was just wasted, in N US/Canuckystan – late June for that. Second, someone didnt apply the fertilizer per label and burned the shit out of their grass.
This looks like you applied the fertilizer hy tossing it by hand.
Definitely looks like fert burn. Will need to reseed.
Fertilizer burn since you did it by hand, same thing happened to me. Get a spreader, they are cheap
Yeah unfortunately hand spreading fertilizer isn’t accurate enough. Given your location it’s possible to dethatch the dead material up, put down some top soil and re-seed the entire lawn.
Make sure you are a couple times a day in the beginning.
You can fertilize once the seedlings are about 3/4 tall. (Use a spreader, even the hand cranking one is better than tossing it out by hand.)
Fertilizer burn….slow release fertilizer is your best friend. Best to use a spreader as well.
Those are some nice lilies and agapanthus you got there
Yes. I have 2000 and use hand held spreader. A pain to have to refill though and remember where you left off.
This whole lawn business is driving me bonkers too, OP, but I’m learning.
I was going to ask whats up with that wacky sidewalk but then I realized your lawn is elevated and there is a retaining wall cutting off most of the view..
This lawn is toast. Very obviously improperly applied fertilizer that was neither measured nor dispersed via a spreader.
Reading the comments, I see that you tossed by hand – did you not think to read the instructions on the bag?
You will need to rake out all of the dead stuff and re-seed. Buy a spreader. They’re cheap and easy to use and make it extremely hard to burn your lawn unless you drop a pile of it on the grass.
You can burn with a spread as well, been there. Go by 1/2 to start.
Fertiliser burn, you should do it before expected rain, or simply water it in.
Looks like a small lawn. I would finish killing, till it up, and then lay sod.
Is it possible to dilute the fertiliser(urea 46-0-0) in a hose end sprayer and spray it over the lawn?
I try to wait to fertilize the day before a good amount of forecasted rain. I’ll water it after applying fertilizer and then wait for the rain. I’ve watered only and somehow missed spots or it wasn’t enough somehow and got burns.
Fertilizer burn?
Milorganite can’t mess it up if you tried
You thought you watered it immediately, but your husband realized you didn’t you say? Can you explain that 🤔
Crab grass preventer also prevent ur normal grass from germinating, but u can bypass it by adding a at least two inch of top soil to ur existing soil . If you want to over seed and make your lawn look less shitty. Make sure u water 3 times every day for at least a month.
Thank goodness you missed a few spots
When keep it simple stupid and tossed by hand instead of keep it sophisticated stupid and bought a spreader gone wrong.
I doubt you need more people telling you it’s fert burn but you can maybe and big emphasis on maybe try deep deep watering, then aerate then top dress to maybe kinda counteract the pre emergent and help wash out some of the nutrients. The top soil might maybe help with germination if you do the other steps if you wanna try and get some spring growth. That being said you’re better off dethatching in the fall and then reseeding and keeping the weeds down with a good selective post emergent in the meantime. Also your lawn is already half dead anyway it’s a good excuse to do a full Reno and replenish with newer cultivars? If you buy a push spreader/broadcast spreader if it’s one that has hollow plastic wheels, cut off your spread during your would be turn around and stick to straight passes only to avoid burn during your turns. Those cheap push spreaders with wheels I described tend to catch fertilizer in the wheel itself and drop it all in one spot during turns.
I thought your grass had a varigation
Did you even read the label on the bag? 😂