MIchelle wrote:
I'm a new homeowner and pretty inexperienced with gardening. At the
beginning of Spring when my lawn was overrun with dandelions and
weeds, I ran out to Kmart and bought a 50lb bag of weed n feed. I
stupidly didn't read the instructions figuring I couldn't do much hard
because it was a "feed". Well, I was definitely wrong. I "spread" it
with a cup and dumped a whole cup on areas of large weeds. Well,
needless to say, and much to my horror, have many large patches of
brown dead grass!!! It just looks horrible!

At this point, is there anything at all I can do aside from digging up
the many dead patches and re-seeding? Is there any chance that the
grass will grow there again?

Please help!

Thanks,
Michelle


My wife did the same thing last year. I knew something was dreadfully
wrong when I got home from work and smelled 2,4-d. I was afraid it was
going to kill all the trees as well as most of the grass. Luckily, it
only killed a few spots of grass, although I think it might be why the
daffodils in the lawn did so badly this year and the crocuses didn't bloom.

The grass looks awful this year, with small dead spots still, but it's
starting to fill in. I'll reseed those spots next week and by next year
it will be OK again.

I usually broadcast cheap agricultural fertilizer by hand *very* lightly
in the spring (a high nitrogen blend, like maybe 20-3-3 or 15-5-10.) I
use a mulching mower so the grass can recycle the nutrients. (last year
I bagged my clippings because I was trying to get rid of the excess
nutrients). In the fall I fertilizer very lightly with something like
10-20-10. I don't worry about nutsedge or crabgrass, I just keep them
mowed. I spot treat dandelions and thistles and plantains with a spray
bottle of 2,4-d. Other weeds cannot compete with the grass as long as
it is mowed regularly.

Best regards,
Bob