Emergency Lawn Resuscitation

I know other people have asked similar questions, but trust me, this one is different!

One of my neighbours made the mistake of accepting "help" from a local doctor friend who said he would treat her lawn and make it look nice.

This was 2 years ago that he did this, and God knows how much weed killer he put down, because even to this day, the ground appears completely sterilised. Not even weeds or moss are growing on it. Birds and wild animals won't go on it, neither will the neighbourhood cats.

6 months after he put the weed killer down, the whole area still stank of chemicals.

In April of this year, my neighbour put down some grass seed, but it never grew into anything.

I'm beginning to wonder if he tested some kind of nuclear device in her garden.

So what do you recommend to get grass growing in this soil again?

 

She already asked. He claims he can't remember. Maybe it's true, maybe it's not. It was over two years ago that he applied the weed killer, so he may have forgotten.

I know he used to help maintain the local cricket green, and I believe they have used various professional herbicides there in the past. I wonder if he used them on her lawn.

He made a last ditch attempt at reviving the lawn by covering it with black tarpaulin(!). When that didn't work, he bailed out.

 

If it was me id dig up the garden And get some farm yard manure from a local farmer and mix it all up. Hopefully it will get the worms working. It could only be the top inch of soil is causing this and will mix up the good soil to the top,

 

There's no type of commercial weed killer that has a residue effect for that amount of time but if it stunk and it's still clear of life I can think of just one thing but I can't believe he would put it down.
I will not name the chemical but it will have soaked in and contaminated the ground so it's all got to be dug out and got rid off.

 

I think the only way you can kill vegetation for this long is with diesel or motor oil. That will everything for good for the foreseeable future.

 

Thanks for all your replies. It is very strange.

I'll take the advice of those above who suggested putting manure down. That seems like a good starting point.

 

How could someone get that kind of stuff. I am sure you'd need a license to purchase that kind of stuff

 

I`d call the Pope but as hes busy in america right now youll have to settle for greenthumb instead. Get their advice then take it from there.

 

??

 

You can purchase the commercial stuff but the person spraying it must either be trained to the required standards or be under supervision by a person with the Relevant training.
In this case I don't think they used any type of chemical requiring this but rather a chemical that has been mentioned.