Every year, we try to do the cycle of Scotts Fertilizers on our lawn (
Crabgrass Fertilizer, Weed Control Fertilizer, Summerguard Fertilizer,
Regular Fertilizer, and Winterguard Fertilizer), and usually have no
problems.


We usually do the "Scotts Weed Control" one around Memorial Day weekend
in May, but this year my husband didn't get around doing it until a few
days ago.


Because its so late into June, we were going to just skip the "Weed
Control", and just do the "Summerguard", but we opted to still do the
"Weed Control", because our lawn was OVERRUN by clovers this year.


We usually have clover throughout the yard every year, but this year was
the WORST, and we have never seen it this bad!!!! On one side of our
house, where we use to have nice grass, the clover spread like wild, and
the whole side of the house was just one big field of clover. When you
walked on the side of the house, you weren't walking on grass, you were
walking on pure clover.


But anyway, we watered the grass to get it nice and wet ( so that the
fertilizer sticks to the weeds ), just like the bag instructs, and we
set our "drop spreader" to the 5 1/2 setting like the bag says, and
applied the fertilizer.


Well, the next morning when we went to the window, we were horrified, as
we saw that not only was the clover dead, but all our beautiful Green
grass is now a Yellow eyesore!!!!!


The clover started to turn Brown, and slowly die off, but the grass was
all Yellow the next morning!!! Now all the neighbors have nice Green
lawns, and our lawn is all Yellow.


So, did the Scotts "Weed Control" kill the lawn?? So far, we have gotten
two different opinions.


We talked to a neighbor, and he told us that "clover" is high in
Nitrogen, and that the Nitrogen from the clover, and the Nitrogen from
the fertilizer was probably to much for the grass, and it just killed
everything.


The sales guy we talked to at our local hardware store, said that we
probably put down the Scotts "Weed Control" to late in the season, and
that the high temperatures ( mid 80's in our area ), caused the "Weed
Control" to burn the lawn. According to him, he said that "Weed Control"
is suppose to be applied BEFORE June 1st???


If this is true, then why do they still have it on the shelfs!?


So is there any truth to the above two explanations?? And now the
important thing, how do we fix/repair the lawn??? According to the
"Scotts" bag, you CAN'T put down new grass seed until 4 weeks after
applying the "Weed Control"???


What if we were to spread around some new topsoil ( Topdressing I think
they call it? ) first, and then reseed?? Or do we have to wait the full
4 weeks???


We have watered the lawn "deeply" for the past couple of days, but that
didn't really help. The grass is still all Yellow.


Any help and or suggestions about what to do now would greatly be
appreciated!!!


Thanks!

MICHELLE H. wrote:
Every year, we try to do the cycle of Scotts Fertilizers on our lawn (
Crabgrass Fertilizer, Weed Control Fertilizer, Summerguard Fertilizer,
Regular Fertilizer, and Winterguard Fertilizer), and usually have no
problems.


We usually do the "Scotts Weed Control" one around Memorial Day weekend
in May, but this year my husband didn't get around doing it until a few
days ago.


Because its so late into June, we were going to just skip the "Weed
Control", and just do the "Summerguard", but we opted to still do the
"Weed Control", because our lawn was OVERRUN by clovers this year.


We usually have clover throughout the yard every year, but this year was
the WORST, and we have never seen it this bad!!!! On one side of our
house, where we use to have nice grass, the clover spread like wild, and
the whole side of the house was just one big field of clover. When you
walked on the side of the house, you weren't walking on grass, you were
walking on pure clover.


But anyway, we watered the grass to get it nice and wet ( so that the
fertilizer sticks to the weeds ), just like the bag instructs, and we
set our "drop spreader" to the 5 1/2 setting like the bag says, and
applied the fertilizer.


Well, the next morning when we went to the window, we were horrified, as
we saw that not only was the clover dead, but all our beautiful Green
grass is now a Yellow eyesore!!!!!


The clover started to turn Brown, and slowly die off, but the grass was
all Yellow the next morning!!! Now all the neighbors have nice Green
lawns, and our lawn is all Yellow.


So, did the Scotts "Weed Control" kill the lawn?? So far, we have gotten
two different opinions.


We talked to a neighbor, and he told us that "clover" is high in
Nitrogen, and that the Nitrogen from the clover, and the Nitrogen from
the fertilizer was probably to much for the grass, and it just killed
everything.


The sales guy we talked to at our local hardware store, said that we
probably put down the Scotts "Weed Control" to late in the season, and
that the high temperatures ( mid 80's in our area ), caused the "Weed
Control" to burn the lawn. According to him, he said that "Weed Control"
is suppose to be applied BEFORE June 1st???


If this is true, then why do they still have it on the shelfs!?


So is there any truth to the above two explanations?? And now the
important thing, how do we fix/repair the lawn??? According to the
"Scotts" bag, you CAN'T put down new grass seed until 4 weeks after
applying the "Weed Control"???


What if we were to spread around some new topsoil ( Topdressing I think
they call it? ) first, and then reseed?? Or do we have to wait the full
4 weeks???


We have watered the lawn "deeply" for the past couple of days, but that
didn't really help. The grass is still all Yellow.


Any help and or suggestions about what to do now would greatly be
appreciated!!!
....
Last first...

For starters, leave the fertilzers (all of them) on the shelf in the
store unless and until you've done soil testing to determine what, if
anything the soil needs.

Clover isn't "high in N", it's a legume that sets N taken in from the
air in nodules on the roots that serves as a natural source of N. Far
from a weed, clover is a very beneficial component in a lawn and will
ebb and flow in cycles depending on soil fertility. That it expanded in
coverage is generally indicative of a lack of N and certain other trace
minerals so it would have been far better in all likelihood to have
simply let it go and naturally add its N far less expensively and far
less susceptible to burning.

I've not looked at the actual product label but assuming the product you
used is a post-emergence broadleaf weed killer, no, the weed killer
itself didn't kill the grass (at least unless the application rate was
_far_ over recommended).

Most likely this product is mostly a quick-release N fertilizer and you
did simply over-fertilize for the time of year and possibly the setting
on the spreader isn't accurate or despite the setting the opening was
too large owing to a mis-operation or other failure in the mechanism.

What to do is to keep watering and perhaps it will gradually recover
from the roots rather than having actually been killed off entirely. If
that doesn't work over the next month, at this point the only real
practical alternative is to wait until cool weather and overseed at that
point and reestablish the lawn.

Again, before adding any more product of any type, I can't over
emphasize the need to take soil samples and find out what your soil
conditions actually are.

--

MICHELLE H. wrote:
Every year, we try to do the cycle of Scotts Fertilizers on our lawn (
Crabgrass Fertilizer, Weed Control Fertilizer, Summerguard Fertilizer,
Regular Fertilizer, and Winterguard Fertilizer), and usually have no
problems.


We usually do the "Scotts Weed Control" one around Memorial Day weekend
in May, but this year my husband didn't get around doing it until a few
days ago.


Because its so late into June, we were going to just skip the "Weed
Control", and just do the "Summerguard", but we opted to still do the
"Weed Control", because our lawn was OVERRUN by clovers this year.


We usually have clover throughout the yard every year, but this year was
the WORST, and we have never seen it this bad!!!! On one side of our
house, where we use to have nice grass, the clover spread like wild, and
the whole side of the house was just one big field of clover. When you
walked on the side of the house, you weren't walking on grass, you were
walking on pure clover.


But anyway, we watered the grass to get it nice and wet ( so that the
fertilizer sticks to the weeds ), just like the bag instructs, and we
set our "drop spreader" to the 5 1/2 setting like the bag says, and
applied the fertilizer.


Well, the next morning when we went to the window, we were horrified, as
we saw that not only was the clover dead, but all our beautiful Green
grass is now a Yellow eyesore!!!!!


The clover started to turn Brown, and slowly die off, but the grass was
all Yellow the next morning!!! Now all the neighbors have nice Green
lawns, and our lawn is all Yellow.


So, did the Scotts "Weed Control" kill the lawn?? So far, we have gotten
two different opinions.


We talked to a neighbor, and he told us that "clover" is high in
Nitrogen, and that the Nitrogen from the clover, and the Nitrogen from
the fertilizer was probably to much for the grass, and it just killed
everything.


The sales guy we talked to at our local hardware store, said that we
probably put down the Scotts "Weed Control" to late in the season, and
that the high temperatures ( mid 80's in our area ), caused the "Weed
Control" to burn the lawn. According to him, he said that "Weed Control"
is suppose to be applied BEFORE June 1st???


If this is true, then why do they still have it on the shelfs!?


So is there any truth to the above two explanations?? And now the
important thing, how do we fix/repair the lawn??? According to the
"Scotts" bag, you CAN'T put down new grass seed until 4 weeks after
applying the "Weed Control"???


What if we were to spread around some new topsoil ( Topdressing I think
they call it? ) first, and then reseed?? Or do we have to wait the full
4 weeks???


We have watered the lawn "deeply" for the past couple of days, but that
didn't really help. The grass is still all Yellow.


Any help and or suggestions about what to do now would greatly be
appreciated!!!


Thanks!


Not knowing the type of grass or conditions, it is hard to venture a
guess. The broadleaf weed killers I have used (on southern lawn)
caution about applying when the lawn is stressed (hot/dry weather) I
would water deeply 2x week, not mow unless at least 4" high, and hope
for the best. You might have killed lots of the leaf but not the root,
so there is a chance it will recover. Your local extension service can
probably help, especially if you know the variety of grass. Scotts
probably has a help line, too. Weed B Gone has been great to use on our
lawn, and got most of our heavy weeds on first application. It is to be
used when weeds are actively growing, so always did it a week or two
after fertilizing. Scotts is expensive stuff, from what I recall. Slow
release nitrogen is best for environ. and lawn.

On Wed, 1 Jul 2009 15:40:37 -0400, (MICHELLE H.)
wrote:

Any help and or suggestions about what to do now would greatly be
appreciated!!!

Stop all application of the product. Give the lawn a rest period
(several months). And as mentioned, test the soil (after that).

MICHELLE H. wrote:
Every year, we try to do the cycle of Scotts Fertilizers on our lawn (
Crabgrass Fertilizer, Weed Control Fertilizer, Summerguard Fertilizer,
Regular Fertilizer, and Winterguard Fertilizer), and usually have no
problems.


We usually do the "Scotts Weed Control" one around Memorial Day
weekend in May, but this year my husband didn't get around doing it
until a few days ago.


Because its so late into June, we were going to just skip the "Weed
Control", and just do the "Summerguard", but we opted to still do the
"Weed Control", because our lawn was OVERRUN by clovers this year.


We usually have clover throughout the yard every year, but this year
was the WORST, and we have never seen it this bad!!!! On one side of
our house, where we use to have nice grass, the clover spread like
wild, and the whole side of the house was just one big field of
clover. When you walked on the side of the house, you weren't walking
on grass, you were walking on pure clover.


But anyway, we watered the grass to get it nice and wet ( so that the
fertilizer sticks to the weeds ), just like the bag instructs, and we
set our "drop spreader" to the 5 1/2 setting like the bag says, and
applied the fertilizer.


Well, the next morning when we went to the window, we were horrified,
as we saw that not only was the clover dead, but all our beautiful
Green grass is now a Yellow eyesore!!!!!


The clover started to turn Brown, and slowly die off, but the grass
was all Yellow the next morning!!! Now all the neighbors have nice
Green lawns, and our lawn is all Yellow.


So, did the Scotts "Weed Control" kill the lawn?? So far, we have
gotten two different opinions.


We talked to a neighbor, and he told us that "clover" is high in
Nitrogen, and that the Nitrogen from the clover, and the Nitrogen from
the fertilizer was probably to much for the grass, and it just killed
everything.


The sales guy we talked to at our local hardware store, said that we
probably put down the Scotts "Weed Control" to late in the season, and
that the high temperatures ( mid 80's in our area ), caused the "Weed
Control" to burn the lawn. According to him, he said that "Weed
Control" is suppose to be applied BEFORE June 1st???


If this is true, then why do they still have it on the shelfs!?


So is there any truth to the above two explanations?? And now the
important thing, how do we fix/repair the lawn??? According to the
"Scotts" bag, you CAN'T put down new grass seed until 4 weeks after
applying the "Weed Control"???


What if we were to spread around some new topsoil ( Topdressing I
think they call it? ) first, and then reseed?? Or do we have to wait
the full 4 weeks???


We have watered the lawn "deeply" for the past couple of days, but
that didn't really help. The grass is still all Yellow.


Any help and or suggestions about what to do now would greatly be
appreciated!!!



As other have said, it may take several months for your lawn to recover.

As to what you can do TODAY, visit a lawn store. There are grass dyes
available to cosmetically alter your lawn. If you color your grass, perhaps
the neighbors will quit pointing at your house and shaking their heads in
pity.

Invitations to neighborhood cook-outs may even get renewed.

On Jul 1, 2:40*pm, (MICHELLE H.) wrote:
Every year, we try to do the cycle of Scotts Fertilizers on our lawn (
Crabgrass Fertilizer, Weed Control Fertilizer, Summerguard Fertilizer,
Regular Fertilizer, and Winterguard Fertilizer), and usually have no
problems.

We usually do the "Scotts Weed Control" one around Memorial Day weekend
in May, but this year my husband didn't get around doing it until a few
days ago. *

Because its so late into June, we were going to just skip the "Weed
Control", and just do the "Summerguard", but we opted to still do the
"Weed Control", because our lawn was OVERRUN by clovers this year.

We usually have clover throughout the yard every year, but this year was
the WORST, and we have never seen it this bad!!!! On one side of our
house, where we use to have nice grass, the clover spread like wild, and
the whole side of the house was just one big field of clover. When you
walked on the side of the house, you weren't walking on grass, you were
walking on pure clover.

But anyway, we watered the grass to get it nice and wet ( so that the
fertilizer sticks to the weeds ), just like the bag instructs, and we
set our "drop spreader" to the 5 1/2 setting like the bag says, and
applied the fertilizer.

Well, the next morning when we went to the window, we were horrified, as
we saw that not only was the clover dead, but all our beautiful Green
grass is now a Yellow eyesore!!!!!

The clover started to turn Brown, and slowly die off, but the grass was
all Yellow the next morning!!! Now all the neighbors have nice Green
lawns, and our lawn is all Yellow.

So, did the Scotts "Weed Control" kill the lawn?? So far, we have gotten
two different opinions.

We talked to a neighbor, and he told us that "clover" is high in
Nitrogen, and that the Nitrogen from the clover, and the Nitrogen from
the fertilizer was probably to much for the grass, and it just killed
everything.

The sales guy we talked to at our local hardware store, said that we
probably put down the Scotts "Weed Control" to late in the season, and
that the high temperatures ( mid 80's in our area ), caused the "Weed
Control" to burn the lawn. According to him, he said that "Weed Control"
is suppose to be applied BEFORE June 1st???

If this is true, then why do they still have it on the shelfs!?

So is there any truth to the above two explanations?? And now the
important thing, how do we fix/repair the lawn??? According to the
"Scotts" bag, you CAN'T put down new grass seed until 4 weeks after
applying the "Weed Control"???

What if we were to spread around some new topsoil ( Topdressing I think
they call it? ) first, and then reseed?? Or do we have to wait the full
4 weeks???

We have watered the lawn "deeply" for the past couple of days, but that
didn't really help. The grass is still all Yellow.

Any help and or suggestions about what to do now would greatly be
appreciated!!!

Thanks!

Or your spreader was set wrong and I bet you dont even know if its
calibrated right, I have one that needs to be calibrated it puts out
to much. Measure sq ft of lawn, calculate what you used to see if it
was overdone.

Oren wrote:
On Wed, 1 Jul 2009 15:40:37 -0400, (MICHELLE H.)
wrote:

Any help and or suggestions about what to do now would greatly be
appreciated!!!

Stop all application of the product. Give the lawn a rest period
(several months). And as mentioned, test the soil (after that).

Yes...good point to delay that until at least a significant fraction of
the existing application is gone.

I'll note as it's convenient here another observation--

If, as the OP says the grass was deeply yellowed and the broadleaf
components were strongly showing stress as soon as the next morning and
the temperature is only in the 80's they rate of application imo was
definitely _way_ over the recommended. That's just too quick a response
otherwise.

Didn't by any chance do other treatments on top of this at the same time???

--

Thanks for all the answers and info. so far, I really do appreciate it!
For those asking, the Scotts "Weed Control" label numbers are "28-1-4",
and it says on bag "Won't burn lawn guaranteed!".


On the back of the bag, they have a little "calender" thing for when to
put down fertilizer, and for the Scotts "Weed Control, it says
April-June. So we figured that this meant ALL of June, as it doesn't say
a specific June date.


The monthly calender schedule reads as follows:


1) Early Spring: February - April

"To prevent crabgrass":

Scotts Turf Builder with Halts Crabgrass Preventer



2) Late Spring: April - June

"To kill weeds":

Scotts Turf Builder with Plus 2 Weed Control



3) Summer: June - August

"To kill bugs":

Scotts Turf Builder with SummerGuard



4) Early Fall: August - September

"For Fall root growth":

Scotts Turf Builder Lawn Fertilizer



5) Late Fall: October - November

"For a thicker greener lawn now, and next spring":

Scotts Turf Builder Winterizer



Also, just so you know, on the back of the Scotts "Weed Control" bag, it
says "Do not apply if temperatures are below 60 or ABOVE 90". When my
husband applied it last week, it was like between 82 and 84 degrees out,
plus it rained the next afternoon. So we followed all the directions
EXACT to the "T", but the next morning when we woke up, all the grass
was Yellow, less than 24 hours after putting down the Scotts "Weed
Control".

MICHELLE H. wrote:
Thanks for all the answers and info. so far, I really do appreciate it!
For those asking, the Scotts "Weed Control" label numbers are "28-1-4",
and it says on bag "Won't burn lawn guaranteed!".

That's high N, low everything else. What's missing is whether it says
anything about "slow" or "fast" release.

It's also guaranteed to not burn at the recommended rate and assuming
the existing level of N isn't at or near a critical value.

As I noted elsewhere, if it had such a marked effect in such a short
time, it's almost guaranteed the application rate was quite a lot higher
than the recommended for whatever reason.

As someone else suggested, take the amount of the product you used and
measure the area and see what the actual application rate was--I'd wager
it's greater than you think.

On the back of the bag, they have a little "calender" thing for when to
put down fertilizer, and for the Scotts "Weed Control, it says
April-June. So we figured that this meant ALL of June, as it doesn't say
a specific June date.

Those are general dates; earlier south, later north in the general time
frame. A lot also depends on local soil conditions, what the grass
varieties is/are, etc., etc., etc., ...

The monthly calender schedule reads as follows:
1) Early Spring: February - April
Scotts Turf Builder with Halts Crabgrass Preventer
2) Late Spring: April - June
Scotts Turf Builder with Plus 2 Weed Control
3) Summer: June - August
Scotts Turf Builder with SummerGuard
4) Early Fall: August - September
Scotts Turf Builder Lawn Fertilizer
5) Late Fall: October - November
Scotts Turf Builder Winterizer

You have to remember Scotts' _primary_ purpose is to convince you to buy
product--whether your lawn really needs or can use it effectively or not
is of secondary concern.

I _never_ fertilize a lawn; it simply causes the need for excessive
mowing and a need for more water unless there is a very specific soil
deficiency.

If there's a specific problem of weeds and/or insect or poor stand,
etc., then treat that specific problem. But, _know_ what you're
treating and what you need before just spending money. Call your local
extension office; they'll have a lot of area-specific information from
your State land grant ag school and won't have selling product as their
first objective.

Also, just so you know, on the back of the Scotts "Weed Control" bag, it
says "Do not apply if temperatures are below 60 or ABOVE 90". When my
husband applied it last week, it was like between 82 and 84 degrees out,
plus it rained the next afternoon. So we followed all the directions
EXACT to the "T", but the next morning when we woke up, all the grass
was Yellow, less than 24 hours after putting down the Scotts "Weed
Control".

As noted, that's a dead giveaway the application rate was, in fact,
_way_ too high.

--

MICHELLE H. wrote:
Thanks for all the answers and info. so far, I really do appreciate it!
For those asking, the Scotts "Weed Control" label numbers are "28-1-4",
and it says on bag "Won't burn lawn guaranteed!".


On the back of the bag, they have a little "calender" thing for when to
put down fertilizer, and for the Scotts "Weed Control, it says
April-June. So we figured that this meant ALL of June, as it doesn't say
a specific June date.


The monthly calender schedule reads as follows:


1) Early Spring: February - April

"To prevent crabgrass":

Scotts Turf Builder with Halts Crabgrass Preventer



2) Late Spring: April - June

"To kill weeds":

Scotts Turf Builder with Plus 2 Weed Control



3) Summer: June - August

"To kill bugs":

Scotts Turf Builder with SummerGuard



4) Early Fall: August - September

"For Fall root growth":

Scotts Turf Builder Lawn Fertilizer



5) Late Fall: October - November

"For a thicker greener lawn now, and next spring":

Scotts Turf Builder Winterizer



Also, just so you know, on the back of the Scotts "Weed Control" bag, it
says "Do not apply if temperatures are below 60 or ABOVE 90". When my
husband applied it last week, it was like between 82 and 84 degrees out,
plus it rained the next afternoon. So we followed all the directions
EXACT to the "T", but the next morning when we woke up, all the grass
was Yellow, less than 24 hours after putting down the Scotts "Weed
Control".


You have warm or cool season grass (northern or southern clime)? If the
ground was somewhat dry, the grass was already stressed. Too much
nitrogen will dehydrate grass further, just like when we eat too much
salt.

I live in a condo, so it's been a few years since I shopped for lawn
care stuff. When I did, I found Scotts to be a big rip-off. You should
not need more than one appl. a year for broadleaf weed killers, and that
might be too often. Slow release nitrogen 3x year in warm climate is
enough; for "high maintenance" lawns, do 4 (more growth, more mowing).
You might be way ahead with time and money if you get some lawn care
info from local or county extension service. With proper mowing,
watering, and feeding, weeds should be few and far between. It can take
two or three years to get weeds under control because of seed residual.
Once gone, spot treatment should be all that is required. You should
follow the schedule your lawn requires, not what is printed on a bag of
expensive stuff, esp. for insecticides.

Scotts "Program" is just a marketing gimmick. I use a plan for my
lawn, but it is geared toward my specific location and type of grass.
Weed-and-Feed is harsh, very harsh, so it should ONLY be used when
absolutely necessary. Clover is not one of those "weeds" to be overly
concered about. Back off on fertilizer during hot weather and apply
fertilizer when the ground is damp or rain is in the forcast.

We try to keep the lawn the lawn as "natural" as possible, as last year
we ONLY did the Scotts "Weed Control", as we had a problem with
Dandelions EVERYWHERE throughout the yard. Not like 1 or 2 Dandelions,
but hundreds!!!

This year, there was hardly any Dandelions at all, just TONS of clover
growing everywhere at a rapid rate. Our whole side yard, was almost
nothing but pure clover.


2 years ago, we only used the Scotts "Weed Control" for the Dandelions,
and the "SummerGuard", to kill the fleas being brought into the yard by
chipmunks and squirrels constantly running through our yard.


Also, yes, the grass was wet when my husband applied the "Weed Control",
because the directions on the bag say that "the grass should be wet so
that the fertilizer particles can stick to the weeds".


My husband uses a "Scotts Accu-Green 1000 Drop Spreader", and its about
10 - 12 years old, so could it be possible that the spreader is
defective, and too much fertilizer came out???

"MICHELLE H." wrote in message
...
Every year, we try to do the cycle of Scotts Fertilizers on our lawn (
Crabgrass Fertilizer, Weed Control Fertilizer, Summerguard Fertilizer,
Regular Fertilizer, and Winterguard Fertilizer), and usually have no
problems.
Any help and or suggestions about what to do now would greatly be
appreciated!!!


Does it say this on the package? "Do not use on dichondra, St.
Augustinegrass, creeping bentgrass, bahia, or centipedegrass lawns." Next
do you know what type of grass you have?

A setting of 5.5 is extremely high, especially if your husband applied like
the package says to. With a drop spreader, you criss-cross the yard. You
_MUST_ cut the application rate in 1/2 when you apply per instructions.

What is the sq.ft of your yard, and how much fertilizer did he go through?

Have him set the drop spreader on the curb and go buy a rotary.

MICHELLE H. wrote:
We try to keep the lawn the lawn as "natural" as possible, as last year
we ONLY did the Scotts "Weed Control", as we had a problem with
Dandelions EVERYWHERE throughout the yard. Not like 1 or 2 Dandelions,
but hundreds!!!

This year, there was hardly any Dandelions at all, just TONS of clover
growing everywhere at a rapid rate. Our whole side yard, was almost
nothing but pure clover.

That's not a problem--it'll come and go and it's a natural N fixer; much
cheaper (and as you've learned) safer than commercial fertilizer. When
the soil gets built up again, it'll wane and the grass will come back
in, all automagically if you don't get excessively obsessed over it.

....

My husband uses a "Scotts Accu-Green 1000 Drop Spreader", and its about
10 - 12 years old, so could it be possible that the spreader is
defective, and too much fertilizer came out???

Of course, almost anything is possible and given the symptoms it's
highly probably either it malfunctioned or perhaps wasn't set as was
thought.

For the third time, look at how much you used, measure the area and you
can determine precisely what the rate applied actually was which is the
significant thing to know--although by description it's pretty easy to
tell it was too much, at least for the conditions.

Anyway, just chill, give it a few months and it'll probably (mostly)
come back. Even if not, wait until fall and overseed and by next spring
you'll be fine.

--

call scotts and ask for advice, perhaps you got a bad batch?

but beyond that all this applying chemicals to lawns can poision our
environment.

birds rabbits chipmunks live in that chemical soup so many apply.

I think dandelions are a nice splash of color.

these chemicals made my sisters dog very ill giving it a permanent
seizuree disorder, that requires daily pills for life.

is it really worth it?

call a landscaper, who can remove the contaminated soil, replace it
and after preparing the soil install a nice green lawn of sod.

pricey but perhaps its worth it to you?

bob haller wrote:
call a landscaper, who can remove the contaminated soil, replace it
and after preparing the soil install a nice green lawn of sod.

pricey but perhaps its worth it to you?

Good grief! How about nukes?

MICHELLE H. wrote:
We try to keep the lawn the lawn as "natural" as possible, as last year
we ONLY did the Scotts "Weed Control", as we had a problem with
Dandelions EVERYWHERE throughout the yard. Not like 1 or 2 Dandelions,
but hundreds!!!

This year, there was hardly any Dandelions at all, just TONS of clover
growing everywhere at a rapid rate. Our whole side yard, was almost
nothing but pure clover.


2 years ago, we only used the Scotts "Weed Control" for the Dandelions,
and the "SummerGuard", to kill the fleas being brought into the yard by
chipmunks and squirrels constantly running through our yard.

Fleas? Never, ever experienced that outdoors. When I lived up north, I
didn't pay attention to lawn insects (a luxury ) Here in FL, our
little buggers seem to be very cyclical. Among the ugliest of pests,
the mole cricket eats anything and everything vegetative. Then the fire
ants multiply and eat the mole crickets and termite larva. Carpenter
ants come and go.

I can buy bags and bags of stuff to treat the entire lawn (per the
label) for fire ants, but a very small amount of Amdro, sprinkled along
pavement, will get rid of all signs of fire ants (proved by being able
to work on sprinkler lines without being swarmed).


Also, yes, the grass was wet when my husband applied the "Weed Control",
because the directions on the bag say that "the grass should be wet so
that the fertilizer particles can stick to the weeds".

Weed B Gone is a very good broadleaf herbicide. When we used it, our
lawn was about 25% dead (bare soil) and heavy weed growth. WBG knocked
down about 95% of the weeds on first appl. That, along with proper
mowing, fert. and watering, got our St. Aug. lawn back on the road to
recovery. We had one nasty, tough, persistent grassy weed left to
battle by hand, but when the grass filled it, it didn't leave much room
for weeds. Mowing too short might be something that encourages clover.
It also allows lawn to dry more quickly and give weed seed sun to
germinate. Cutting or pulling weeds before they go to seed also helps
win the war )


My husband uses a "Scotts Accu-Green 1000 Drop Spreader", and its about
10 - 12 years old, so could it be possible that the spreader is
defective, and too much fertilizer came out???


Could very well be. I calibrated ours long ago, but I think I ran about
half strength until I was sure it was going at the right rate.

The nastiest chemicals for lawns are the pre-emerg. crabgrass killers,
and timing is critical for those. Also among the poisons that should be
used sparingly, not as part of a schedule on a bag.

On Jul 2, 7:01�am, "
wrote:
bob haller wrote:
call a landscaper, who can remove the contaminated soil, replace it
and after preparing the soil install a nice green lawn of sod.

pricey but perhaps its worth it to you?

Good grief! �How about nukes?

obviosly you never had this happen to you............

I did it as a kid under 12 years old.

Wiped out near the entire front lawn for over a year, when it finally
came back it was lush green grew so fast it had to be cut every few
days.......

no i didnt have a spreader. my family wanted to kill me.

resseeding anytime soon will see new grass shoots germinate and
die..........

I speak from EXPERIENCE

On Jul 1, 2:40*pm, (MICHELLE H.) wrote:
Every year, we try to do the cycle of Scotts Fertilizers on our lawn (
Crabgrass Fertilizer, Weed Control Fertilizer, Summerguard Fertilizer,
Regular Fertilizer, and Winterguard Fertilizer), and usually have no
problems.

We usually do the "Scotts Weed Control" one around Memorial Day weekend
in May, but this year my husband didn't get around doing it until a few
days ago. *

Because its so late into June, we were going to just skip the "Weed
Control", and just do the "Summerguard", but we opted to still do the
"Weed Control", because our lawn was OVERRUN by clovers this year.

We usually have clover throughout the yard every year, but this year was
the WORST, and we have never seen it this bad!!!! On one side of our
house, where we use to have nice grass, the clover spread like wild, and
the whole side of the house was just one big field of clover. When you
walked on the side of the house, you weren't walking on grass, you were
walking on pure clover.

But anyway, we watered the grass to get it nice and wet ( so that the
fertilizer sticks to the weeds ), just like the bag instructs, and we
set our "drop spreader" to the 5 1/2 setting like the bag says, and
applied the fertilizer.

Well, the next morning when we went to the window, we were horrified, as
we saw that not only was the clover dead, but all our beautiful Green
grass is now a Yellow eyesore!!!!!

The clover started to turn Brown, and slowly die off, but the grass was
all Yellow the next morning!!! Now all the neighbors have nice Green
lawns, and our lawn is all Yellow.

So, did the Scotts "Weed Control" kill the lawn?? So far, we have gotten
two different opinions.

We talked to a neighbor, and he told us that "clover" is high in
Nitrogen, and that the Nitrogen from the clover, and the Nitrogen from
the fertilizer was probably to much for the grass, and it just killed
everything.

The sales guy we talked to at our local hardware store, said that we
probably put down the Scotts "Weed Control" to late in the season, and
that the high temperatures ( mid 80's in our area ), caused the "Weed
Control" to burn the lawn. According to him, he said that "Weed Control"
is suppose to be applied BEFORE June 1st???

If this is true, then why do they still have it on the shelfs!?

So is there any truth to the above two explanations?? And now the
important thing, how do we fix/repair the lawn??? According to the
"Scotts" bag, you CAN'T put down new grass seed until 4 weeks after
applying the "Weed Control"???

What if we were to spread around some new topsoil ( Topdressing I think
they call it? ) first, and then reseed?? Or do we have to wait the full
4 weeks???

We have watered the lawn "deeply" for the past couple of days, but that
didn't really help. The grass is still all Yellow.

Any help and or suggestions about what to do now would greatly be
appreciated!!!

Thanks!

I think you did something wrong, ive never seen grass go brown
overnight, in weeks yes but not overnight.

"ransley" wrote in message
...
On Jul 1, 2:40 pm, (MICHELLE H.) wrote:
Every year, we try to do the cycle of Scotts Fertilizers on our lawn (
Crabgrass Fertilizer, Weed Control Fertilizer, Summerguard Fertilizer,
Regular Fertilizer, and Winterguard Fertilizer), and usually have no
problems.

Any help and or suggestions about what to do now would greatly be
appreciated!!!


I'm in upstate NY and my entire lawncare consists of mowing the acreage
every 10 days (in very dry years every 18-19). In 25 years we have never put
down any "products" and we have NEVER watered anything except a newly
planted tree. It rains, we mow. That's it. It's green, lush, and never needs
watering. The only problem we've ever had with the lawn is mole holes early
in the Spring, and the cats take care of that in about a week. There is a
fairly new McMansion up the road (closest neighbor whose lawn we can see)
and these people have had a brown lawn since they built the place. They use
a lawn service that puts out those little flags (caution, toxic to all life
forms, etc.) and they cut the grass at least once a week. They also cut it
much too short. Even this year, when it's been raining almost every day,
their lawn is brown and patchy. I say stay away from doing ANYTHING to the
lawn and you'll be fine. Of course, depending on your location, YMMV.

I don't know the actual square feet of the lawn, but do know that it is
0.11 acres, and we used 2 full bags of 5,000 square foot Scotts "Weed
Control" fertilizer.

Yes, on the back of the Scotts "Weed Control" bag, its says to have a
setting of 5 and 1/2 for the Scotts Accugreen Drop Spreader, which is
the one that we have, so thats what we had it set at, 5.5.


Also, I believe that our grass is mostly made up of Tall Fescue and
Kentucky Bluegrass. And yes, my husband put the fertilizer down around
10:30 am in the morning, and when we went to look at the lawn at 7:00 am
the next morning, all the grass was Yellow!!!!!

On Jul 2, 8:26*am, (MICHELLE H.) wrote:
Yes, on the back of the Scotts "Weed Control" bag, its says to have a
setting of 5 and 1/2 for the Scotts Accugreen Drop Spreader, which is
the one that we have, so thats what we had it set at, 5.5. *

Also, I believe that our grass is mostly made up of Tall Fescue and
Kentucky Bluegrass. And yes, my husband put the fertilizer down around
10:30 am in the morning, and when we went to look at the lawn at 7:00 am
the next morning, all the grass was Yellow!!!!! *

That doesnt mean its not actualy set to 6.5, there is a measurement to
calibrate it, call Scotts.

On Jul 2, 8:10*am, "h" wrote:
"ransley" wrote in message

...
On Jul 1, 2:40 pm, (MICHELLE H.) wrote:

Every year, we try to do the cycle of Scotts Fertilizers on our lawn (
Crabgrass Fertilizer, Weed Control Fertilizer, Summerguard Fertilizer,
Regular Fertilizer, and Winterguard Fertilizer), and usually have no
problems.
Any help and or suggestions about what to do now would greatly be
appreciated!!!

I'm in upstate NY and my entire lawncare consists of mowing the acreage
every 10 days (in very dry years every 18-19). In 25 years we have never put
down any "products" and we have NEVER watered anything except a newly
planted tree. It rains, we mow. That's it. It's green, lush, and never needs
watering. The only problem we've ever had with the lawn is mole holes early
in the Spring, and the cats take care of that in about a week. There is a
fairly new McMansion up the road (closest neighbor whose lawn we can see)
and these people have had a brown lawn since they built the place. They use
a lawn service that puts out those little flags (caution, toxic to all life
forms, etc.) and they cut the grass at least once a week. They also cut it
much too short. Even this year, when it's been raining almost every day,
their lawn is brown and patchy. I say stay away from doing ANYTHING to the
lawn and you'll be fine. Of course, depending on your location, YMMV.

True, most lawn treatment schedules are made to treat your wallet.

MICHELLE H. wrote:
Yes, on the back of the Scotts "Weed Control" bag, its says to have a
setting of 5 and 1/2 for the Scotts Accugreen Drop Spreader, which is
the one that we have, so thats what we had it set at, 5.5.
....

The prrooof of the puuuding is to take the number of bags you used,
measure the area you spread them over and _CALCULATE_THE_ACTUAL_RATE_.

Whatever it was, it was obviously too much for the conditions.

Again, chill...time will heal even this wound.

Not to mention there's nothing (practical) you can do to undo what's
been done, anyway. Continuing to water copiously may help speed up the
process slightly...

--

MICHELLE H. wrote:
I don't know the actual square feet of the lawn, but do know that it is
0.11 acres, and we used 2 full bags of 5,000 square foot Scotts "Weed
Control" fertilizer.


There are 43,560 square feet in an acre. 0.11 acres = 4,792 square feet.

MICHELLE H. wrote:
I don't know the actual square feet of the lawn, but do know that it is
0.11 acres, and we used 2 full bags of 5,000 square foot Scotts "Weed
Control" fertilizer.

Well, there ya' go...

1A -- 43,460 sq-ft (5280^2/640) * 0.11 -- 4,360 ft^2 for the entire
lot, less the house, plantings, driveway, etc., etc., etc., ...

That's well over double the suggested rate...

--

On Jul 2, 9:10*am, (MICHELLE H.) wrote:
I don't know the actual square feet of the lawn, but do know that it is
0.11 acres, and we used 2 full bags of 5,000 square foot Scotts "Weed
Control" fertilizer.

So you applied about DOUBLE the recommended amount. No wonder you
burned it.

If you're so damned concerned about your lawn the least you could do
is some research on how many square feet are in an acre so you know
how much you should be applying.

You've got two choices:
1. Leave it alone and it will grow back.
2. Dig it all up and start over.

It's up to you. Just be aware that the lawn will green up in a couple
of weeks on its own. If you dig it all up, it will look like hell for
the REST OF THE SUMMER.

"MICHELLE H." wrote in message
...
I don't know the actual square feet of the lawn, but do know that it is
0.11 acres, and we used 2 full bags of 5,000 square foot Scotts "Weed
Control" fertilizer.

Like others said, here is the problem.

Take out the footprint of the house & driveway, you almost tripled the
application rate.

MICHELLE H. wrote:
Yes, on the back of the Scotts "Weed Control" bag, its says to have a
setting of 5 and 1/2 for the Scotts Accugreen Drop Spreader, which is
the one that we have, so thats what we had it set at, 5.5.
....

And btw, if the spreader were accurately putting out the recommended
amount, after going over the area you say elsewhere the size of the lot
is, you should have spread no more than a bag of material.

If it was only one pass to put the two bags down, then the spreader is
obviously put out double what it was supposed to have done; else the
mistake was going over the same area twice at the full-strength setting
thereby putting on twice the recommended amount at the recommended rate
per pass.

Either way, not determining ahead of time how large the area is in
comparison to the amount of product to use was a major blunder.

--

bob haller wrote:
On Jul 2, 7:01�am, "
wrote:
bob haller wrote:
call a landscaper, who can remove the contaminated soil, replace it
and after preparing the soil install a nice green lawn of sod.
pricey but perhaps its worth it to you?
Good grief! �How about nukes?

obviosly you never had this happen to you............

I did it as a kid under 12 years old.

Wiped out near the entire front lawn for over a year, when it finally
came back it was lush green grew so fast it had to be cut every few
days.......

no i didnt have a spreader. my family wanted to kill me.

resseeding anytime soon will see new grass shoots germinate and
die..........

I speak from EXPERIENCE

I once had a yard that had stunted - really, really small - veggies in
the garden when I moved in. I had 1" carrots and a ripe watermelon
about 2" in diam. Next year, after planting my own veggies, I couldn't
dump on enough fert. to get anything growing decently. Young and
inexperienced ) It had very sandy soil and probably pH off the scale.

My daughter has a yard with, probably, the best soil that can be found.
Zinnias 6' tall, wonderful flowers and no bugs. No fert. added. The
OP may have soil with pH that allows plants to take up max N.

h wrote:
"ransley" wrote in message
...
On Jul 1, 2:40 pm, (MICHELLE H.) wrote:
Every year, we try to do the cycle of Scotts Fertilizers on our lawn (
Crabgrass Fertilizer, Weed Control Fertilizer, Summerguard Fertilizer,
Regular Fertilizer, and Winterguard Fertilizer), and usually have no
problems.

Any help and or suggestions about what to do now would greatly be
appreciated!!!


I'm in upstate NY and my entire lawncare consists of mowing the acreage
every 10 days (in very dry years every 18-19). In 25 years we have never put
down any "products" and we have NEVER watered anything except a newly
planted tree. It rains, we mow. That's it. It's green, lush, and never needs
watering. The only problem we've ever had with the lawn is mole holes early
in the Spring, and the cats take care of that in about a week. There is a
fairly new McMansion up the road (closest neighbor whose lawn we can see)
and these people have had a brown lawn since they built the place. They use
a lawn service that puts out those little flags (caution, toxic to all life
forms, etc.) and they cut the grass at least once a week. They also cut it
much too short. Even this year, when it's been raining almost every day,
their lawn is brown and patchy. I say stay away from doing ANYTHING to the
lawn and you'll be fine. Of course, depending on your location, YMMV.


My son's solution to dry lawn is to stop mowing during hot, dry weather.
Grass gets a little tall, but he is usually the only one in the
neighborhood with GREEN lawn.

MICHELLE H. wrote:
I don't know the actual square feet of the lawn, but do know that it is
0.11 acres, and we used 2 full bags of 5,000 square foot Scotts "Weed
Control" fertilizer.


OOPS! One acre is 43,560 sq. ft. Multiplied by 0.11 gives 4791. You
gave the lawn a double dose, it appears. The 0.11 acres is the LAWN,
not the lot size, right?

Cabot wrote:
"MICHELLE H." wrote in message
...
I don't know the actual square feet of the lawn, but do know that it is
0.11 acres, and we used 2 full bags of 5,000 square foot Scotts "Weed
Control" fertilizer.

Like others said, here is the problem.

Take out the footprint of the house & driveway, you almost tripled the
application rate.



If I learned from all of my mistakes, I'd be a genius )

In article , George wrote:
MICHELLE H. wrote:
I don't know the actual square feet of the lawn, but do know that it is
0.11 acres, and we used 2 full bags of 5,000 square foot Scotts "Weed
Control" fertilizer.


There are 43,560 square feet in an acre. 0.11 acres = 4,792 square feet.

After subtracting a reasonable allowance for the footprint of the house,
garage, driveway, sidewalks, etc., that means they spread 10,000 square feet
worth of fertilizer on about 3,000 square feet of lawn. The results should not
have been a surprise.

The fertilizer is not to blame, Michelle. You and your husband are.

You should never have bought two bags of the stuff in the first place. One is
more than enough for such a small lawn.

The entire yard/house is on 0.11 acres. The property measurements for
our entire lot/yard is 50 feet x 100 feet. We have 50 feet in front. 50
feet in back, and 100 feet on the sides of our property.


So thats it, its official, our Scotts Drop Spreader must have
malfunctioned, and even though it was set at 5.5, it must have came out
at like a 10 or 11!?


Well, I guess its going straight to the curb for trash pickup in a few
days, and we have to invest in a new one!!!


Everyone says to invest in a "rotary type" spreader, but is a "rotary
spreader" really that good for our SMALL lawn??? I always thought that
drop spreaders were good for small lawns, and rotary spreaders are
better for bigger lawns???

wrote in message
m...
h wrote:
"ransley" wrote in message
...
On Jul 1, 2:40 pm, (MICHELLE H.) wrote:
Every year, we try to do the cycle of Scotts Fertilizers on our lawn (
Crabgrass Fertilizer, Weed Control Fertilizer, Summerguard Fertilizer,
Regular Fertilizer, and Winterguard Fertilizer), and usually have no
problems.

Any help and or suggestions about what to do now would greatly be
appreciated!!!


I'm in upstate NY and my entire lawncare consists of mowing the acreage
every 10 days (in very dry years every 18-19). In 25 years we have never
put down any "products" and we have NEVER watered anything except a newly
planted tree. It rains, we mow. That's it. It's green, lush, and never
needs watering. The only problem we've ever had with the lawn is mole
holes early in the Spring, and the cats take care of that in about a
week. There is a fairly new McMansion up the road (closest neighbor whose
lawn we can see) and these people have had a brown lawn since they built
the place. They use a lawn service that puts out those little flags
(caution, toxic to all life forms, etc.) and they cut the grass at least
once a week. They also cut it much too short. Even this year, when it's
been raining almost every day, their lawn is brown and patchy. I say stay
away from doing ANYTHING to the lawn and you'll be fine. Of course,
depending on your location, YMMV.


My son's solution to dry lawn is to stop mowing during hot, dry weather.
Grass gets a little tall, but he is usually the only one in the
neighborhood with GREEN lawn.

Exactly. And cutting it too short is a real problem as well.

Is it possible that you got a product intended for another
part of the country? You might not know because who you purchased it
from may have many locations and the product may have been fine for
the grass types in some areas where they have locations, but not
yours.

In article ,
(MICHELLE H.) wrote:

So thats it, its official, our Scotts Drop Spreader must have
malfunctioned, and even though it was set at 5.5, it must have came out
at like a 10 or 11!?


Well, I guess its going straight to the curb for trash pickup in a few
days, and we have to invest in a new one!!!

Some people have been known to repair things that malfunction. But those
would be the DIY type. Not likely to find them on a.h.r.