Accidentally put eight times the amount of nitrogen on the Bee Lawns - Ask Extension
Our bee lawn is entering its third summer. Yesterday we were putting feather meal 10–0–0 nitrogen fertilizer on 1000 ft.² of lawn. We followed th...
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Accidentally put eight times the amount of nitrogen on the Bee Lawns #867404
Asked May 07, 2024, 11:30 AM EDT
Our bee lawn is entering its third summer. Yesterday we were putting feather meal 10–0–0 nitrogen fertilizer on 1000 ft.² of lawn. We followed this with four bags of Mother dirt compost and watered it down. Then it rain 6/10 of an inch overnight.
The problem is that we accidentally put 4 pounds of the feather meal on the thousand square feet instead of 1/2 pound.
I am attaching a couple of pictures.
Ramsey County Minnesota
Expert Response
This is well below the 2.5-5 pounds per 100 square feet of feather meal usually recommended. (See website below) The more likely issue is too much nitrogen from the lawn fertilizer/feather meal/compost combo depending on what strength fertilizer you used. Was the lawn fertilizer slow release? https://cmg.extension.colostate.edu/Gardennotes/234.pdf
Feather meal combined with the compost and fertilizer used (depending on what you used) may cause some nitrogen burn of the grass. Nitrogen is very mobile in the soil. So keep watering regularly for the first month if no rainfall. This will help dilute the nitrogen as it dissolves from the feather meal/fertilizer combo and move the excess applied grass fertilizer through the soil more quickly. From your picture I would say you need to better rake in the compost. This will also help to distribute the fertilizers.
1.https://extension.umn.edu/managing-soil-and-nutrients/what-right-fertilizer-your-lawn-and-garden
2. https://monroe.cce.cornell.edu/resources/fertilizing-your-lawn
Feather meal combined with the compost and fertilizer used (depending on what you used) may cause some nitrogen burn of the grass. Nitrogen is very mobile in the soil. So keep watering regularly for the first month if no rainfall. This will help dilute the nitrogen as it dissolves from the feather meal/fertilizer combo and move the excess applied grass fertilizer through the soil more quickly. From your picture I would say you need to better rake in the compost. This will also help to distribute the fertilizers.
1.https://extension.umn.edu/managing-soil-and-nutrients/what-right-fertilizer-your-lawn-and-garden
2. https://monroe.cce.cornell.edu/resources/fertilizing-your-lawn
