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jessie_poo

weed killer murdered my grass

jessie-poo
17 years ago

I used a weed killer of a reputable brand that advertised "wont kill your grass" well the weeds are all gone but now my grass is all brown and dead, and in other spots there were so many weeds that i have bare spots in between what little grass is left alive.

is there anything I can do for the brown grass.. will fertilizer magically bring it back to life?

and for the bare spots should i seed??

Im young this is my first lawn and im on a budget so re-sodding the whole yard is out of the question. is there anything i can do to save my little yard??

HELP!!!!

Comments (32)

  • User
    17 years ago

    Ouch, that hurts! If you fertilize now, I'd use Miracle Gro or something to give it a gentle boost instead of a Scotts' brand fertilizer. Alternately, Milorganite which is a little gentler.

    Water might help, too...

    Good luck!

    Morpheus

  • bestlawn
    17 years ago

    Yeah, lots and lots of water to try leaching it past the root zone, but then you don't indicate when this happened. So, I don't know if it is already too late. There in Texas, it's possible you have St. Augustinegrass. Many labels say the product won't burn the lawn, but they also state not to use on St. Augustine or a certain variety of St. Augustine, like Floratam. Other than those, herbicides formulated for warm season grasses are usually pretty harmlesss to the other species. Ordinarily when this happens, the grass does survive and return at a later time. Yours being a warm season type, I can't speculate when that will be - this season or next year. Perhaps someone else will have a better guess. I'm sure you don't need me to say it but I'm gonna LOL. In the future, please read the whole label before applying and be sure to apply at recommended rates. More is not better.

    Tell us what type of grass you have so someone can direct you in caring for it. There are different maintenance practices for almost all the different warm season type species, and proper care is your best hope for reviving it right now, even though it's brown.

  • theyardbird
    17 years ago

    Echoing what bestlawn has asked, what kind of grass do you have? And what specific weed killer did you use?

    Here's a recent topic that might be relevant to this discussion: Fescue suddenly yellowing

  • rdaystrom
    17 years ago

    The user caused the lawn to die. Not the weed killer. Take responsibility. Read directions.

  • gryd
    17 years ago

    I no longer trust weed killers that supposedly won't harm grass. I burned up sections of my lawn last June with Weed be Gone because the weather turned warmer. I think the only way to use the stuff is when the soil is moist and the temps are cool. If its been hot and dry where you are I don't think the grass will come back. It didn't for me.

  • powiebaby
    17 years ago

    I just used Ortho weed-be-gone MAX (the spray bottle that you connect to your hose). Spoke to a Scotts rep at Home Depot this past Satuday, and he told me how to use it all over my lawn. My main culprit was clover in mass quantities all over the lawn area. Sprayed it on, admittedly used the entire bottle on less than the recommended square footage of lawn area, but noticed the clover starting to wilt the next day. Will keep an eye on the clover and grass over the next couple days. BTW, I'm up in the NW suburbs of Boston, by Nashua. Hope this stuff works well. My neighbor spent $160 on a lawn co. to spray to kill his clover. Doing the job, but that's big bucks to spend for me. I need two more Ortho bottles to finishe my entire lawn area, and I'll have been out just $40.

  • georgiagrassman
    17 years ago

    Nashua NH is a suburb of boston now ?? lol i miss boston my hometown

  • powiebaby
    17 years ago

    urban sprawl has pretty much annexed much of southern NH along the Rtes 3/93/95 corridors as suburbs of Boston. I'm in Pepperell, MA, 10 minutes SW of Nashua, to be exact.

    Back to the weed issue for a moment. I just finished spraying weed-be-gone MAX over the rest of my lawn area. And I did ID the weeds as white clover, not black medic, as I read about in another post. The clover is really wilting nicely. MY QUESTION is what exactly will happen to the dying clover?? Can I expect it to just die and remain visible on the lawn, or will it shrivel up and become less visible with the grass growing and being mowed all season long?

  • weigojmi
    17 years ago

    Ouch.

    I'm the author of the linked thread above but I have good and bad news for you related to that.

    The good: my lawn has almost 100% rebounded after the yellowing. However, I think I was lucky to get cool temps and a lot of rain in the days following the application.

    The bad: I have fescue which is "safe" to use those products on and my grass merely turned yellow with little browning. If you do in fact have St. Augustine, I'm afraid your grass will not rebound this easily. :( Good luck!

  • bpgreen
    17 years ago

    "what exactly will happen to the dying clover?"

    It will die. It'll get all twisty, then shrivel and turn brown. There will be bare spots where the clover used to be. If you have KBG, it'll spread to fill in those bare spots. If you have fescue, you'll need to overseed to get grass in those bare spots.

  • theyardbird
    17 years ago

    Weigojmi,

    Whew! I'm glad to hear that your lawn rebounded.

  • weigojmi
    17 years ago

    Thanks, I'm sure most everyone can relate to the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach upon seeing that.

  • jessie-poo
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    The weed killer i used is Bayer Advanced for southern lawns
    it says for st Augustine &other southern lawns...

    is it possible the grass got burned, we ahd a good rain (REALLY GOOD) a few days after but then it was hot..
    so could the grass just be burned a little not dead..

  • bestlawn
    17 years ago

    But it also says not to use on Floratam variety of St. Augustine. What is your grass?

    Yes, that is possible but we can't know the affect it had on the root system. This would determine whether it recovers and only knowing the variety will help with the answer. Normally, herbicides will not harm the grass types for which it is labeled. If over-applied, it might cause yellowing but that is temporary.

  • ice77angel
    16 years ago

    I used Weed-be-Gone and killed my St. Augustine grass just a couple of weeks ago too. Now my beautiful yard looks like hell. Large dried up spots. I'm so ashamed, I didn't read the label. Since it's my front yard, I can't wait until next season for nature to take its coarse, so I've spent the last couple of days installing plugs for instant results.

    Weed Killer on my precious St Augustine grass... I'll never do that again!

  • texas_weed
    16 years ago

    Do you know what kind of grass it was?

    Being in TX it is a good chance you had Saint Augustine. You cannot use any post emergence herbicide on Saint Augustine except Atrazine. All others will kill it that contain 2,4-D, MSMA, and Dicamba the most popular combination of herbicides.

    If it was Saint Augustine, and you used something like Weed-b-Gone, your Saint Augustin Be-Gone, dead, and will not come back ever again no mater what you do.

  • frank1965
    16 years ago

    Apparently the U of Fl does not find that 2-4d damages SA and I have to agree, see below- spot sprayed misc weeds two weeks ago and the grass is fine- it got the dollarweed but is slow and hit or miss on the violets- However I would be cautious as usual in hot weather- probabaly will not be able to use it again til fall.

    SpeedZone St. Augustine Formula is also unusual in containing the herbicide 2,4-D which was generally thought to be damaging to St. Augustinegrass. In the mid 1980s Dr. Wayne Currey, then turfgrass weed scientist for the University of Florida, observed considerable difference in the St. Augustinegrass injury among different phenoxy herbicide products. The differences were due to the concentration of herbicides other than 2,4-D, particularly mecoprop (once called MCPP), in the mixtures. From many experiments that I have performed in South Florida, mecoprop and not 2,4-D appears to be the killer of St. Augustinegrass. SpeedZone St. Augustine Formula contains a reduced concentration of mecoprop, and I have not seen injury to St. Augustinegrass from labeled rates applied at any season of the year.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Broadleaf herbicides for St. Augustinegrass turf

  • natalia
    16 years ago

    I'm looking for a weed killer and i have St. Agustine grass, wich brand u recomend and where to buy it? I've been looking for SpeedZone and i can find it... Thanks for your help!!

  • frank1965
    16 years ago

    natalia, Does anyone carry Fertilome products in your area? Actually what I used is Fertilome Weed Free Zone which is the same formulation as Speedzone Southern and Speedzone St Augustine- just remember that it's getting hot right now.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Weed Free Zone

  • njtea
    15 years ago

    I used the same product and followed the directions spot spraying the weeds. The grass is dead but I had to dig the weeds out because they were still flourishing, then I spot reseeded.

    Took the product back to the store where I got it and got a refund.

  • tbg120
    10 years ago

    I'm in north Florida and just did the same thing. I used bayer advanced for southern lawns. Said its for st. Augustine and other southern lawns. Well it killed my st Augustine. Didn't kill the centipede. i may have applied it too late in the year? it was pretty hot, but applied in the evening while it was cool. Anyways, I wonder if it will come back next season????

  • dchall_san_antonio
    10 years ago

    You can speed up the return with a few flats of new grass. It will cost you a little more than a dollar per flat but they spread very well in the fall and spring.

    I'd like to see a picture where the centipede was spared and the St Augustine was killed. Can you post one?

  • mr_dn
    7 years ago

    Weed b gon applied on centipede grass above 90 degrees will brown/yellow the grass. Watering will help it recover, no fertilizer etc needed.

  • User
    7 years ago

    Hey, better late than never.

  • HU-38251549
    3 years ago

    yellowing lawn after i applied an weed control what should i do i used an 2-4d product

  • dchall8 .
    3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago
    • First: start your own topic to address your personal issue and not someone else's from 13 years ago.
    • Second: be sure to mention your location and the type of grass you have in your first post.
    • Third: also mention how long ago you sprayed the herbicide.
  • HU-600370633
    2 years ago

    Test

  • HU-600370633
    2 years ago

    I just had most of yard re-sodded with University of Florida's new breed of St. Augustine grass named "CitraBlue" just 2 months ago. Always clearly state upfront the type of grass you have. I used Vigoro weed and feed on it and see no negative effects ...just Thick and Lush. In the future after watching Alan Haynes Lawncare Nut channel on YouTube....I WILL NOT use any Weed and Feed product replacing it with Milorganite and Spot Weed Sorayer.


  • dsnell11
    6 months ago

    THIS IS SIMPLE, DO NOT USE WEED KILLER ON YOUR LAWN, GET A FERTILZER PLAN IN PLACE : WEED/CRABGRASS/FERTILZER IN MARCH; WEED AND FEED LATER IN JUNE; WEE AND FEED SEPTEMBER/ OVERSEED LATE OCTOBER AND USE STARTER FERTILZER WITH IT.

    IF YOU DAMAGED YOUR LAWN, PUT DOWN A MIXTURE OF SCOTTS LAWN TOPSOIL MIX IN PERRENIEL RYE GRASS AND TALL RED FESCUE (FESCUE HELPS WITH HEAT).

    WATER EVERYOTHER DAY, GRASS AND PLANTS NEED A DRY TIME TOO SO DO NOT WATER EVERYDAY.

  • dsnell11
    6 months ago

    ALSO, USE LIME ONCE A YEAR PELLETIZED IS BEST.



  • dchall_san_antonio
    6 months ago

    Wow. While dsnell's plan might work for someone, most all of it has been discredited by the masses on these and other forums over the decades. Although I agree that weed killer is a harsh treatment, sometimes it's the only thing that works. And fertilizer does not take the place of weed killer. If fertility is low on a sod-forming type turf, then fertilizer can sometimes create a more dense turf that resists weeds. March is generally 3 months early to fertilize. You would be fertilizing the spring weeds. Weed n feed products are difficult to apply properly and they are not built with Mother Nature in mind. The time to kill weeds is in April. The time to feed is late May. WNF is a product that sounds too good to be true. Adding topsoil is almost never a good idea unless you have a low spot that needs to be filled. The rye and fescue grasses recommended will never work on half the country. I agree that watering every day is incorrect, but so is watering every other day. I water every 1-2 weeks and have a green lawn all summer. Finally, only apply lime if you have a recent soil chemistry test that shows low calcium and follow the recommendations for the specific type of lime and amounts.