Expert: Ronald B Persaud - 6/21/2009

Question
Hello Ronald,

We are in need of some help please.  My husband put down fertilizer in May and the lawn was looking great.  He then put down turf builder and lime one month later.  The temperature was in the 70's all week and got plenty of water from our IGS.  There are now some spots on the lawn that have burned.  Please let us know how to fix this and how to avoid this in the future.

Thanks so much in advance for your help!

Answer
I suspect that the burnt areas are the result of over application. This can happen quite by accident, depending upon the method of application. The situation is a bit more complicated because of the different products that have been applied over a short time. For instance, lime and some nitrogen fertilizers will react when they are mixed; ammonia will be liberated and you can smell it. My best suggestion is to water the lawn as usual and allow 6 to 8 weeks for the patches to "heal". If this is not quick enough, then you can certainly cut out the bad areas and resod.