The Grass Doctor

I burned my lawn up using fertilizer when over 100 degree temp, how do I fix.?

Used fertilizer when over 100 degrees out, I know should have known better but now I have no lawn, what I have been retrying to grow isn't really coming back, any suggestions or am I done for? Thanks for all the answers, I live in California, Sacramento where it was over 100 for a week. I have watered like crazy, only the crabgrass and mushrooms are coming back. I do have some green coming back but not much.

Public Comments

1. Done for.
2. New seed, starter fertilizer, and lots of water.
3. 100 temps? I assume you are in Az? Is this Bahia grass? I would suggest over watering it. Really give it a good soaking. This may dilute the fertilizer somewhat causing it to neutralize. After about a week or so, I would try overseeding. In the mean time, try to keep the grass about 2 1/2" long. If you cut it any shorter, it will not have its own blades to give it shade and keep it cool. Good luck!
4. Yes you are done for. You will not want to reseed you lawn until it cools down or the same fertilizer that you put down will burn the new seed as well. Once you reseed, make sure you want generously. By the way, never fertilize a new lawn; wait until it is at least one year old before using chemicals on it. You may however use natural fertilizer if used sparingly. Neptune's Harvest Fish & Seaweed works well for this application.
5. It does appear that the growing point may be done for. Fertilizer does and will but plants under high temperatures. Re-seed with good quality seed made for your environment and watering habits. I do disagree with a comment that you should not fertilize your new grass for 1 year. All crops need food a young crop with very small roots need food as well, more so than an old crop with big root systems. Do not over fertilize the grass do it when its cool make sure you water it in but only enough to melt the fertilizer and not wash it away as all fertilizers can move with over watering. The very young grass could use just a phosphors fertilizer from your locale dealer the older grasses need an N-P-K-S blend.
6. How long ago did it happen? Is the grass completely dead (patchy, bare soil) or is it still there but still brown? Sometimes it's just foliar burning and it will grow out of it as long as you keep it adequately watered. With that being said, fertilizing (and for that matter herbicide applications) in high heat can kill grass especially if it was a "hot" fertilizer like potassium nitrate or ammonium sulfate. This is especially true with cool season grasses like bluegrass, ryegrass, and fescue which I believe are the predominate species of lawn turf in Sacramento. Like the others said, re-seeding or sodding (far more expensive) is probably going to be necessary. Luckily, fall is the best time to seed so you have that going for you although it is getting a little late. If you do end up having to re-seed or sod most or all of your lawn, you may want to consider a turf type tall fescue because of its heat and drought tolerance compared to other cool season grasses. It also is a little lower maintenance - doesn't require as much fertilizer, less disease susceptibility, etc. It also tolerates shade a little better than Kentucky bluegrass or perennial ryegrass. The only drawback to the tall fescues is that they don't tolerate heavy traffic very well so if you have kids or pets that play in the yard a lot, it won't recuperate as fast as kentucky bluegrass or perrennial ryegrass. Another suggestion would be to avoid using any seed blends that contain annual ryegrass (aka Italian ryegrass) as it is completely worthless. It germinates quickly but it will die just as fast. Lastly, once the seed germinates and starts growing don't be afraid to mow it once it gets to about 3 or 4 inches tall which may not happen this year given that it's October - just make sure you don't mow it too low. A common rule of thumb is to never mow off more than a third of the leaf blade so if the grass is 3 inches high, you're mower should be set no lower than 2 inches. Usually, the first mowing is also about when the new grass will need its first shot of a balanced fertilizer (not a high phosphorous starter fertilizer that you would have applied at seeding).