Turns out I was actually out of weed killer and the big bottle I grabbed to mix in my 4 gallon sprayer was a weed and GRASS killer. And man did I ever go hard on this. So now my half acre that was actually doing pretty good is dead to the dirt. I’m in the St. Louis Mo suburbs. I had put out the pre emergent crab grass preventer so now I think I’m dead until the fall. I’m kind of worried about the fall. If I throw out grass seed on top of this dead lawn, is there any chance it will grow? I’m so bummed out.
PS I should of mentioned that St. Louis Missouri is a Tall Fescue region.
by FBOARC
32 Comments
I’m sorry for your loss. Till seed and water. You can now also grade any areas you hated
oof yeah grass killer instead of weed killer is basically a reset button. don’t panic tho – it’s not permanent. you’ll want to wait a bit (label usually says how long), then rake out the dead stuff, loosen the soil, and reseed. keep it watered consistently and it’ll come back, just not overnight.
RIP, grass. I have bermuda so I can’t help here, but this is a very unfortunate situation. If you’re looking to switch grass, bermudagrass can be lit on fire and it will come back so, a fallback option? 🤷♀️
Omg I grabbed the wrong bottle and I’m drunk now.. ohh wait it was the right one
Miller lite and a chair and watch it die, then start all over.
It wouldn’t be cheap but you could have someone come in with a sod cutter and cut it all out then lay sod
Been there, done that. I overseeded after about a month and it came back during summer.
Try watering the fuck out of it. I have an area in my lawn where I have been trying to kill the grass. After a bit the grass is right back to being alive.
😬
What’s the chemical label name? The (name) … percentage.
You need to work on even coverage of your products too 😂
That land/hardscape is excellent. Would drink beer there for sure. Sorry about your lawn.
Honestly? This might be a great time to consider filling and regrading. The second picture looks like you could conceivably have a mostly flat yard.
Might be worth the money/effort to do it now.
You can rent a slit seeder and try that. I used to work for a commercial and residential landscaping company and we would slit seed so thicken or increase grass in areas.
OP I’m in St Louis as well. I overseeded some areas back a month ago which is about the right time here (for spring). We’re supposed to have a cooler May, then a normal summer starting late May. Which is to say if you are going to try to seed, do it asap.
Glyphosate breaks down quickly. Unless there’s some other actibpve ingredient, you can seed now.
It will probably be pretty spotty until fall, when I’d top dress and overseed again.
In a couple of short Months the heat and drier weather will be here. Newly planted grass would likely die but clover will grow and put nutrients into the soil. You could grow clover and till over it in the fall when you overseed.
Is it weird I like Op’s garden potential?
Make it so intriguing archaeologist think your land was an ancient temple to a misinterpreted god.
So much love for your land friend.
I can’t help you with your genocide problem, but I could not scroll by without saying that hardscape is *nice*
I’m so glad that im not the only one. Thanks for making me feel better.
Just tell everyone that you planted
a new variety called marbled fescue and act real smug. They’ll be jealous.
Oof!! This hurts!!
Did you ever think you needed to add a French drain in that swale at the bottom to redirect water away from the basement? If so, now would be a good time.
I am not a fan of glyphosate, but one good thing about it is that you can reseed pretty soon after using it. Another good thing is that you might have actually gotten rid of some of the weeds since you went so scorched earth on the area.
Here’s what I would try while I grumbled:
Quickly, do any big grading or drainage products you might have wanted to do.
Then switch gears to getting some grass going for the sake of reducing erosion in the event of heavy rains.
Cut the (dead) grass down to an inch and a half or so, bag it and haul it off. If the grass is too tall it will shade any new seed you put down. Normally I mulch rather than bag, but I think you want to get rid of some of the excess dead grass so your germination can happen sooner given how late it is.
Rent/buy a scarifier/electric rake to get some actual dirt available for the seed to reach. Use a plain stiff rake in the steep spots if that is safer. You’re just trying to scratch up some dirt.
Overseed.
Spread a thin layer of compost over all of it to help the seeds have soil contact and to have protection from the sun.
Water. Light watering very often. Keep the seed damp to encourage germination. Don’t water heavily enough to wash your seed down the hill.
Fertilize, maybe about ten days in.
Enjoy what grass you do get to grow, but spend the summer amending the soil and leveling and focusing on soil health for the fall. Then, get going a bit early this fall, when you’ll have better odds of getting thick grass established.
Ok so how long ago? I’ve actually done this before and called the company and they said just water like hell. Brought it back to life because I did it within like 12ish hours
Your even kill sucks! I still see a few spots of green left. WTFun? Get back out there and even it up before the wife comes home.
Based on the grass in my gravel that I spray with roundup all the time, it’ll be fine in like 2 weeks
Let it die, bring in some fresh compost, re sod
Throwing grass seed ontop of dead grass will not be successful. You might as well take out a wad of cash and light it on fire. At least then the ash will fertilize then soil.
You missed a spot
☠️ 🫠😭
Be a man and learn/rebuild
I’m also in St. Louis. If you need a friend to watch it die and drink beers with lmk
Depending where u are dont put seed down until September the sun will burn the see and it won’t grow.
Till that up and reseed brother. I’m 3 weeks in from when I planted seed!
https://preview.redd.it/txbpofamcsyg1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=96130b34cb4a6da9a43625f81905c6d4d968414c