NJ Lawns Community

So I definitely learned this one the hard way. Been reading all these posts about how great Milorganite is for lawns in Bergen County and thought if a little is good, MORE must be better. Big mistake. I dumped probably 4-5 lbs per 1000 sq ft when you're only supposed to do like 1 lb. Now I have bright yellow and brown streaks running all through my otherwise nice tall fescue lawn in Englewood. Looks absolutely terrible. My neighbor asked if I spilled something toxic. Ugh. Definitely not my proudest moment. Anyone know how long this takes to fade? It's been about 3 weeks since I applied and it just looks worse every day.

Oof dude that's rough. Classic rookie error honestly - I've seen it happen more than you'd think. The thing about Milorganite is it's slow release but there's still a LOT of nitrogen in there. You basically torched your grass with nitrogen burn. I know it sounds counterintuitive but sometimes less is more. What're you mowing at? If you're scalping it that could compound the problem. I'd hold off on any more fertilizer until it recovers. Probably looking at 4-6 weeks before you see real improvement. Make sure your blade is sharp too - dull blades tear the grass and make it harder for it to recover.

This is exactly why I stick to organic amendments and go light with anything. Milorganite isn't even truly organic once you look at the processing - it's heat-dried biosolids. Not my favorite but whatever. Your grass is basically suffering from nitrogen toxicity. I'd hit it with some compost tea when you water to help neutralise the soil a bit. Or maybe some humic acid. Water deeply but infrequently - don't drown it obviously. Might want to get a soil test done. Could be your pH got thrown off too. There's a place in Ridgewood does testing pretty cheap. I'm in Teaneck and honestly had better luck with corn gluten meal for pre-emergent and just good old compost topdressing.

How's your sprinkler setup? Are you watering properly now? Because here's the thing - when you over-apply Milorganite you NEED to water it in EXTRA to help flush those nutrients down to the root zone instead of sitting on top burning everything. But DON'T overwater either or you'll just wash it all into the storm drains which is a whole other problem. Ideally you want deep, infrequent watering - maybe 1 inch per week total. Since you're in Englewood you probably have clay soil which drains slower anyway. Smart controller might help since we're heading into summer - you don't want to be watering the same amount as in spring. I can come take a look at your system if you want, I service the whole area.

Thanks everyone - honestly feeling a bit dumb but better informed now. Yeah I definitely wasn't watering enough after application, thought rain would take care of it but we had that dry spell in late April. And no, I was definitely mowing too short too, like 2 inches which is probably too short for fescue. I've been watering daily trying to fix it but maybe that's making it worse? Will back off and do the deep watering thing. Think I'll rent an aerator too - would that help? I know Golden Nursery in Englewood Clvoer rents them pretty reasonable.