I HAVE COMPLETELY RUINED MY LAWN!

A sincere and warm Hello to all those on this forum.

I am completely new to this forum that was recommended to myself by a friend, aswell as being new to gardening if I am honest.

We have recently moved into a new home with an average sized yet beautiful garden. I have never had to manage a garden in the past hence this is all new to me.

To cut the story short, we moved in 6 months ago, at the time the lawn was beautiful and the existing plant growth blooming.

Until a few weeks ago, I cut the lawn one sunny Sunday, and off loaded two, yes two boxes of what I believed were supposed to be some sort of a lawn feed that I purchased at a local outlet a few weeks prior, without thinking I thought I'd cover the patches of lawn that didn't seem as green and lustrous. Within a day I noticed that the areas I seeded began to die. Today those patches remain as a hard soil type and no growth. Heartbreaking indeed and my partner is very upset with me to say the least!

I have since been watering the lawn, aerating it as often using a hand tool type, and sprinkled a substrate that I purchased at my local Homebase garden centre that guarantees growth in shady areas.

I am unsure what to do next.

I will try to attach some photographs for your viewing after which I look forward to some feedback that would be much appreciated.

 

What was actually in the boxes that you off loaded on the lawn and what weight per box. If it was a fertiliser, then in general you should only apply when rain is forecasted, if not, you should be watering the lawn after application.

 

Picture 2 looks like the grass has died in an arc shape which suggests hand spreading of fertiliser .

Probably areas had been over dosed, or not watered in sufficiently.

 

First of all, what was in the boxes, and also did you read the instructions ? It looks as if the grass has died, making me think you used too much.
I would try raking the soil gently to loosen it, and water it to dilute whatever you put on it. Then maybe you could reseed the bare patches later.

Anyway, welcome to Gardeners Corner and I hope your lawn recovers ...

 

What substrate and what rate of application did you apply, I think you have probably applied to much feed. It is hard to judge the size of your lawn going by the images, what is the dimension of the lawn in sqm? A box of 1.75kg box of lawn fertiliser in general will cover 50sqm. The manufacturers I use for domestic lawn fertilisers recommendations tend to be between 35 & 70 gram per sqm.

 

Good Afternoon my dear forumsters,

To be honest, I cannot recall the name of the product that I used other than it was made by Westlands, and nor did I read the instructions or take notice of any particulars on the box, it was a warm sunny day, I decided to mow the lawn, looked at these 2 boxes of Westlands and thought to myself, let's throw this on a few areas that don't seem as full, it was suicidal I know, however the damage is done.

So my question is, yes we've all agreed that those patches are now officially dead, but how do I fix this?

I have already raked those areas, and seeded them and watered them, I had the sprinkler on ever 2 days recently.

I know nothing about gardening however I am willing to learn and really want to make this up to the dear wife who looked forward to our first summer garden.

Please help

 

Personally, as a grass grower, as opposed to a lawn grower, I'd just water it well and in time the other grass will grow into the dead patches, any one who owns a dog will tell you that.

But if you really need it done quick you could cut out the dead bits an put some turf in them.

 

Welcome to the forum, @Sunny Sam ! Judging by the fact that the original grass was growing well means that you are likely to be a lucky owner of good soil underneath. So don't worry, it'll be all right with the good advise of lawn experts here on the forum.

And you are not alone, my boss got his first lawn and carefully applied some "lawn stuff" to it once a week. Despite of his efforts, the grass didn't quite look like on the box.

It turned out that he had been applying 4-in-1 product that is in fact a weed killer and should be used twice during the growing season...

I don't know how the problem was resolved but nowadays he has a green lawn.

 

Welcome @Sunny Sam to the forum & we all wish you success with your lawn - once you get it fixed again!

As I garden on a balcony obviously I have no use for a lawn! Nevertheless I do know that grass is one of the most durable plants on earth! It will, eventually, regrow, you just have to be patient. (Easier said than done, I know). As we are only just into spring the grass will start to regrow as the days get longer & warmer. A little rain will do a lot more good than watering! Just hope for a few days of rain over a few weeks & you will see it starting to regrow once more. It should be ready for the summer.

Let it also be a lesson - ALWAYS READ THE INSTRUCTIONS ON THE PACKET!

 

Hi welome sunny to a great forum

When one uses chemical fertilzer Correct fertilizer application rates are extremely important because applying excessive amounts of fertilizer to lawns will cause the nitrogen and salt levels in the soil to increase, which may damage or kill the grass. This is called fertilizer burn, which causes yellow to brown strips or patches of dead grass. Symptoms can start to appear even the day after an application
. You can clear the excess fertilizer out of the ground and reseed the dead patches or allow time and nature to take its course. In many cases, the grass will green up again on its own without any help from you. But it will take time but do not use any chemicals because If you continue feeding your lawn at this point it could cause more stress on an already weak plant that’s just trying to recover from a burn so sunny water the affected areas for 1 hour daily for up to two weeks. This will feed the grass and wash out the excess fertilizer. But Make sure to water in the morning not evening as . Watering in the evening leads to standing water remaining overnight, which can invite fungus and grass diseases, hindering lawn recovery.

But If areas of your lawn have been killed by too much fertilizer, you have to replace the dead grass., by removing the dead grass along with 3 inches of soil. , this topsoil is poisoned with excess fertilizer and will kill new grass or any seed planted there. Add some new topsoil to the area, then seed then Water the seeded area 15 minutes per day for 1-2 weeks, to ensure grass seed sprouts
But looking at your pics i dont think it beyond repair and as mentioned it will recover but you need to be patient

 

Good Morning to you all and a sincere thank you from the bottom of my heart, for all your kind input, it is much appreciated.

Eventhough reading through all your replies, especially the last two and three, it brought tears to my eyes, for it touches me that people care.

I look at my grass daily for signs of growth, however sadly these patches of soil look totally barron of any signs of life! It looks dry and hard. The rest of the grass has over grown these patches without affecting these spoiled areas in a positive way.

I think that I will have to swallow by accepting your advice, in that it is going to take time and patience.

I promise that I will never use a product on my grass again.

Fingers crossed that it resolves itself. I have been watering it daily for an hour via my sprinkler however usually I have to admit it is late afternoon. From the last responses I will have to change this to mornings! I am still in the learning phases.

I will keep you guys posted. Thank you once again.

 

Hi it will recover in time i use used fresh coffee grounds every so often as a fertiliser and add sugar which helps to reduce weeds infact last year i had a2 big bald patches where my patio had been plus most of my grass was covered with white clover but coffee and sugar sorted it took awhile but if you ever wont to use it i suggest you read up on the net about it first

 

To make life easier either use a liquid based feed as there are less chances of scorching or use a drop spreader like the Scott’s one which has the settings for Evergreens range of fertilisers.

with what’s called straight feeds you can adjust the levels but with weed and feeds you have to apply at the recommended amount.

Nitrogen is the one aspect that needs careful planning. The idea is to generate the max amount of chlorophyll to insure max photosynthesis without overstimulating shoot growth ie, you want a controlled growth close to the natural growth pattern of the species of grass plant.
Too much creates a quick and soft top body and a poor root growth structure which is why I shy away from many weed and feeds unless it requires it due to the unwanted coverage of plants.
If your lawn has very few weeds then spot treating them and using a straight fertiliser is the best way to go. Deep green grass from excessive use of N is not a good sign.

with watering in warm or hot weather morning watering can result in upto 15% loss due to evaporation and the secret to watering is to alter the amount to insure the soil content remains damp ie, heavy watering one day, light watering the next and so on.

for such a small lawn I would simple make life easier and apply a liquid feed rather than granular but note that the life span of liquids are shorter than granular feeds.

your photo shows that too much N was applied as you can see the grass plant has soft top sections which you want to avoid. Most grass types require very small amounts of N but unfortunately domestic feeds tend to be high as the perception is that fast growing and deep green grass shows it’s working but in fact you want a nice steady growth pattern. Soft and weak plants invite disease which then adds more issues.

you can water in the evening too, if it rains in the night we have no control of that but on grass that’s stressed like say a golf green you will notice the greens are brushed to remove early dew unless they are cut. For domestic lawns the height is higher and as such the plant tends to be stronger with a lot less stress as it’s not a playing surface. In fact it’s the dew that’s more the issue and that appears regardless of if you water in the evening or not so not so much of a concern on domestic lawns as no one brushes their lawns early on as the day breaks.