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Used Fertilizer, Now My Lawn is Brown!!

13K views 26 replies 15 participants last post by  bug-guy  
#1 ·
Hello everyone,

I live in Chicago and live in a family home. I do not know much about lawn treatment for a very nice looking front lawn.
Over the last two years for some reason in the spring (April) I start to water my grass and the grass does start to grown. But, around August my grass starts to look very dense in color and does not look healthy like a nice green front lawn should. I do not know what type of grass is present because about 4 years ago the water department had to dig of my front lawn for work and the department had a contractor place new sod.

One week ago I purchased a bag of fertilizer and the instructions mention to mow my lawn to the lowest setting and water the lawn for two days, then apply fertilizer.

Now, my grass has 'Burn' spots... I do not know what to do now!

Can I mow my lawn again and just overseed with a bag Tall Fescue where the grass has burn or Is there anything out in the market that can save my burn, dead grass?

All the best information will be great in reviving my grass...

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#4 ·
How often and how much do you water throughout the season? What is your usual mowinh height? What type of fertilizer was it? What did you use to apply fertilizer? How did you gauge that you were putting appropriate amount with appropriate uniformity in coverage down?


I would not mow lawn again.
I would not seed. Definitely do not fertilize. Give it time to grow and recover.
 
#10 · (Edited)
Fertilizer burn. Too much fertilizer in some spots. Sometimes the directions on the bag are not clear.
Some of the brown areas will recover. After a couple weeks buy some of the same sod (or very similar) and patch the dead spots with new sod. Keep it moist for 3 weeks.
You need a better fertilizer spreader. And try not to over-apply. A little at a time is better and a lot safer for your grass. It looks like that Pennington fertilizer is highly concentrated. It probably contains little or no coated or slow-release nitrogen--which would have been safer for your grass. A neighbor of mine had the same problem two weeks ago.
You may need to use organic Milorganite, or a fertilizer that is less concentrated.

Notice that the bag says 30 percent urea nitrogen--a concentrated fert that is likely to cause a burn if over-applied. I could not find any info showing that it included any slow-release or long lasting nitrogen. Ask for your money back.
Although the bag claims "slow-release nitrogen", the ingredients do not show it.


Consider talking with the owner of a small family-owned, independent lawn care company. An experienced person with good products, equipment and a quality spreader will avoid this problem.
 
#18 ·
Ok, so the bag shows 10.5% slow release. That means approximately 70% is quick release. With that high a nitrogen content, and that much quick release, it’s no wonder you have burn spots from just walking around with a hand held spreader. You might get some to return, but I think you are in for a fall seeding at the very least. As some have mentioned, water the hell out of it and deeply. Don’t water lightly and don’t cut it until it is around 5” and then make sure you don’t cut it any shorter than 4”
 
#22 ·
It could…but you will need to water lightly multiple times a day to keep the soil damp where the seed is. The upper 1” is going to dry out quickly, hence the reason for multiple times a day. You are in a vicious cycle here. You need to water deeply to keep the existing turf roots from coming up to get the water, but you also need to keep the upper open area damp for seed to germinate…pick your poison
 
#21 ·
Good points from Zlandman. Garden Weasel will work fine to work the seed down into the soil. Try to get most of the seed buried about a quarter-inch deep. Potentially you could use a string trimmer to cut away and shorten the grass in those spots only. Seed is in short supply--expensive this year--however--use plenty of seed, because germination is far below the germination stated on the bag if conditions are not perfect. Try to get about 20 seeds per square inch. Water every day for 30 days. Twice a day if the temp exceeds 85.
Don't panic--but--summer weeds and crabgrass are common when seed is sown in the summer months.
 
#23 · (Edited)
With all the great advise this is going to be my next step in repairing my burn grass.
  • Mow lawn to highest setting.
  • Use a weed trimmer and remove burn grass
  • ligtly rake all burn grass
  • Use garden weasel
  • Add seed
  • Burier seed with garden weasel
  • Add more seed
  • Finally water grass...
Anything that I may be doing wrong will be great for my not to mess this burn grass recovery...
 
#24 ·
A water timer to help keep it wet --just in case you are busy sometimes. Worth its weight in gold.


Rake out any excess fertilizer where possible. Water well to remove excess fert.

Some experts recommend a half-inch layer of peat moss on top to hold the moisture longer.
And do not use cheap seed--sow the good stuff.
Remember the seed may test at 80 percent when it was tested--but that is probably 6 months ago. After storage and sitting on the shelf at the store, it WILL be less. Worse yet, if you go to one of those stores that stores it outside under a canopy that protects it partially from the weather. It still gets hot and humid--can deteriorate.