They say to err is human. Most of the time, the consequences of our actions have effects. If you have a yard, you have probably mixed your fertilizer incorrectly at some point. It might not have had such a huge impact, primarily if it resulted in under fertilization.
But on the off chance that you end up over-fertilizing your lawn with a nitrogen-based fertilizer, you may need to learn how to fix an over-fertilized garden. This sadly, is an unwanted consequence. But first, you need to know what to look out for to know if your yard is over-fertilized.
How Do I Know If My Lawn Is Over Fertilized?
Here are the over-fertilization lawn symptoms to look out for;
- Formation of a crust on the crust from the soil reacting with the fertilizer
- Brown or yellow tips and streaks on the grass blades.
- Limp or black roots
- Reduced or no grass growth but this is only noticeable after a few weeks
- Leaf scorch or fertilizer burn
Here are some lawn burn pictures examples to enable you to figure out if your plant leaves or grass blades have been scorched or burned by a toxic fertilizer mix. The brown grass that looks like it has not been watered in a month is a result of over-fertilization.
Will Over Fertilized Grass Grow Back?
This depends on the extent of the damage. If the leaves can still photosynthesize and the roots can even absorb nutrients, then the grass will grow again, but it may take a while.
Fixing Too Much Nitrogen On Lawn
Unfortunately, there is no quick fix for damage caused by a nitrogen-based fertilizer as these tend to cause the soil PH to increase, which in turn burns your grass or plant roots. You may leave the soil to leach out the nitrogen over time and reseed on a few weeks. If you opt to try and heal your grass and plants, follow these steps;
First, you need to check your grassroots. If they are dead, you have to wait for the nitrogen to leach out. Then you need to water your lawn to dilute the nitrogen from the soil and reduce the pH of the soil. Do not overwater your garden, as this may lead to the growth of fungus such as mushrooms.
Concentrate on the affected parts and water the non-affected parts as you would regularly. It will also dilute any unwanted fertilizer spreading from the over-fertilized parts of your lawn. Recheck your roots in a couple of days to see if the roots have recovered for the overfertilization. If they still look shriveled, brown, or black, the damage is done. You have no option than to reseed the lawn.
You will still need to water the affected areas before you reseed the lawn. This will help to remove even more of the excess nitrogen from the soil. Make sure you till the area and mix the soil as well.