It’s easy to think that more fertilizer means a greener lawn. In Idaho Falls, however, overfeeding is a common mistake that leads to chemical burn and dead turf.
Excess nitrogen and salts from over-fertilization actually pull moisture out of the grass. This leaves your yard with ugly yellow or brown patches that look remarkably like dog urine spots.
If you’ve accidentally overdone it, timing is everything when it comes to lawn repair.
Catching the symptoms early and flushing the soil can be the difference between a temporary setback and a total lawn replacement.
Will your over-fertilized grass grow back, or are you stuck with the bill for new sod? Keep reading to learn the warning signs of fertilizer burn and the immediate steps to take to neutralize the damage.
First, Can You Over-Fertilize Your Lawn?
Yes, there’s absolutely such a thing as too much fertilizer. It’s actually a pretty common Idaho lawn care mistake — and an easy way to accidentally kill your grass.
The same nutrients that make your lawn green and healthy -- nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium -- can hurt your lawn if you apply too much. Too much fertilizer adds excess nitrogen and salts to the soil. It’s called fertilizer “burn,” and can actually kill your lawn.
Applying too much fertilizer isn’t just bad for your lawn and wasteful — it can harm the environment, running off and entering the groundwater.
It’s a bad deal, all around.
What Does Over-Fertilized Grass Look Like?
Basically, it looks dead. Kind of like the yellow or brown dog urine spots you see in lawns where dogs hang out.
You might not notice any problems right away. Or you might realize you’re not seeing any new growth, even though you just gave your lawn a big meal.
Maybe just the tips of your grass blades are turning yellow or brown.
Then, days or even weeks later, ugly yellow or brown areas appear in the spots where you over-fertilized your grass.
How to Fix an Over-fertilized Lawn
Lots and lots of water. That will help rinse the extra fertilizer out of your lawn and dilute the harmful excess nitrogen and salt.
The sooner you catch this, the better.
Will over-fertilized grass grow back? Probably. Eventually, your damaged lawn should bounce back and green up again. If it doesn’t, you might need to re-seed.
Don’t Beat Yourself Up Over This
It’s easy to feel like a screw-up if you over-fertilize your grass.
Don’t feel too bad. It happens. It’s actually a pretty common DIY fertilizing mistake.
Maybe you read the directions wrong. Not everybody knows the exact size of their yard. Maybe that old spreader you dragged out of the garage wasn't calibrated right. Maybe you mistakenly thought that adding more fertilizer will get you quicker results.
Maybe you used liquid fertilizer instead of granular. The liquid stuff is more likely to burn your lawn if you use too much, because it’s designed to work right away, while granular releases slowly, over time.
These are all great reasons to trust this job to the pros. There are other reasons, too.
It’s not just the amount of fertilizer that’s important.
Getting a green lawn takes a lot of work and knowledge. Professionals know a green, healthy lawn needs quality fertilizer, blended specifically for this area of Idaho and containing some slow-release nitrogen so that the dark green color will last longer.
They know a green lawn requires fertilizer with a high percentage of iron, between 3 and 7 percent.
And they know that lawn care in Idaho Falls, ID, includes adding sulfur because of the pH of our soil and water. Since we have a higher pH, we lower it by applying sulfur as part of our lawn treatments.
All you have to know? These are all great reasons to hire an expert lawn care.
Trust Your Idaho Lawn Fertilizing to Lawn Buddies
A healthy lawn takes a lot of work and the right knowledge.
If all this sounds like a big pain, you’re right. You have better things to do than toil in your yard every weekend, right?
Why not leave it to the pros?
If you want simple, hassle-free lawn care in Idaho Falls, ID that offers quality core lawn care services for a healthy, impressive lawn, it doesn’t get easier than Lawn Buddies.
No stressing about which complicated combination of lawn care services will get you beautiful, healthy grass.
You don’t have time to fuss with all that. Give yourself a break.
Lawn Buddies features one premium, six-visit lawn care program that includes everything your lawn needs to grow healthy and green.
Fertilizer, weed treatments, and grub control, all wrapped up in six visits, each perfectly timed throughout the season, so your grass is green and strong and resists weeds.
We’ve got your back.
Got a few minutes? That’s all you need to get started. Just fill out the form on this page, call us at (208) 656-9131 or read more about our services. Then you can kick back and relax in your healthy, thriving yard.
