How Does Fertilizer Burn a Yard?

Grass Losing Its Greenness

• When the fertilizer turns the grass brown, the grass could either be completely dead or severely damaged. If severely damaged, the grass can grow back as you restore the soil to its ideal state. If the grass looks somewhat yellow, the grass will probably recover. Crispy brown grass probably will not. Once you killed the grass, the only thing you can do is cut the grass out and replace it with new grass by seeding the area.

Yard Shock

• Some plants will experience more fertilizer shock when transported to new soil. Sometimes you need to give the fertilizer time to acclimate to the new soil before applying fertilizer and spreading it. These plants need more water than anything, which will help them grow really deep roots that will maximize their strength and resistance to weeds and other stresses. When grass experiences stress, you might think that the grass needs more nutrients to acquire the strength to recover from the stress. However, the growth induced by the nutrients can actually cause more stress and kill the grass.

High Concentration

• Liquid fertilizer has a high potential to burn the lawn because the fertilizer has more concentration. The worst time to apply liquid fertilizer is in the heat because the heat will cause part of the fertilizer liquid to evaporate, which increases the concentration of salts. These salts kill much of the grass by preventing the grass from taking water up through the roots.

Excessive Nitrogen

• Plants need nitrogen, but too much nitrogen can become toxic to plants and kill them. Too much nitrogen can actually reverse the water flow, causing water to flow out of the plant and back into the soil. This especially occurs if the soil has more nitrogen than the nitrogen-fixing bacteria can work on. Nitrogen burn can also happen if you have a dog, since dog urine contains a high percentage of nitrogen. That urine, combined with the nitrogen in the fertilizer, will kill the grass.

Increasing Acidity

• Excessive fertilizer can also lower the pH level of the soil. With lower pH, plants have a harder time taking up water and nutrients through the roots. The acid can also burn the root tips, preventing the plant from growing new root hairs.

Burn-free Fertilizer

• Some fertilizer manufacturers release fertilizer under the claim that the particular company formula will not burn the grass. However, fertilizer that will not burn the yard also will not provide the yard with enough nutrients to thrive.