Fertilized yard and now grass is dying

[Snyder040]

I'm a newbie here and to lawn care. I'm located in Florida and have Saint Augustine grass. In March, I applied Scott's weed and feed to my yard after mowing. My mower blades were damaged from a rock and ended up cutting unevenly and shredding my grass on one side throughout my yard. About two weeks later my grass looks yellowish brown and has burn spots and has not been growing. I was going to cut my grass tonight and apply Molorganite. Can someone advise me what I should do? Will molorganite kill it even more??

[Maizan24]

Im no expert either but I can only think of a couple things that it may (or not) be. Did you make sure that your spreader was set to the right setting? Its possible you over applied. Also make sure that the fertilizer you bought is compatible with your turf type. I would imagine that wherever you got it from would be smart enough to not carry product that is for cool season grasses but I would check the bag just to be double sure. Also Im not sure how long it takes for grass fungus or disease to set it but possibly (again, no expert) something could have happened if the grass was cut rough like you were saying. If possible post a couple pics because there are lots of knowledgeable folks on this forum that could ID the problem in a second. Good luck.

[CenlaLowell]

I would definitely just water it. I would not throw any more fertilizer down.

[glenforest]

What fertilizer did you use? This Scotts Weed and Feed label says do not use on St. Augustine http://www.scotts.com/smg/goprod/turf-b ... od11670004

[glenforest]

This is the southern grass version of Scotts Turf Builder. Is this what you used? http://www.scotts.com/smg/goprod/lawn-b ... /prod90008

[Oicu812]

How many pounds of product did you put down on how many Thousand square feet of lawn? A lot of these weed and feed products are only suitable for Saint Augustine and centipede at the lower end of the usage rates and even then it is sketchy

[Green]

Another idea...Are you in the part of Florida that's in severe drought right now? If so, are you watering?

[Snyder040]

I used the purple bag of Scott's Weed and Feed that is for St Augustine grass. Some areas of the yard are growing very nicely, very green. Other areas, The blades are either dead or thinned and dried out. Some of the blades are shredded from the damaged, old mower blades. I just put new blades on so the next cut will be a clean cut. Yes I'm in Florida where we have received very little rain however I've been watering it every other day and it seems to be bringing the grass back in most areas. I believe I may have used too much fertilizer- where I used a thin layer of fert, its growing green and strong. The dead areas are where extra seemed to leak out of the spreader or where I may have overlapped.

[bpgreen]

I've been watering it every other day and it seems to be bringing the grass back in most areas. I believe I may have used too much fertilizer- where I used a thin layer of fert, its growing green and strong. The dead areas are where extra seemed to leak out of the spreader or where I may have overlapped.

If you can water deeply, you should be able to get the grass to grow deeper roots, so you'd be able to water less frequently. Try waiting for the grass to start showing signs of stress before watering. If you change too suddenly, the grass won't be able to get to the water that's deeper in the soil. Some people can get to the point where they only water once a week, but they water an inch that one time. I was never able to get to that point with traditional lawn grass, because it's so dry here. With my native/naturalized grasses, I often go for a month.

From the sounds of things, the spots that are suffering may have gotten fertilizer/nitrogen burn. Fortunately, St Augustine spreads, so unless those spots are big, they should fill in on their own.

[HoosierLawnGnome]

I over fertilized a 3 sf area of my yard when the spreader tipped over.

I picked up all the prill I could with a vaccuum and then watered it heavily for several days. Yes, a lot still died but there are enough green blades in there it will fill in fine.

Remember this general rule: No more than 1 lb / K of any nutrient (N, P, or K) per month. Always calculate how much you're putting down.

[Snyder040]

I definitely over-fertilized...my yard looks like sh*t!

[Maizan24]

Just keep it watered. You should be ok.