Weed 'n Feed Killed Our Grass

[Mary Jo]

My fiance and I bought our first house together in December. I have never taken care of a lawn before (always rented and had the grass mowed by the property management), so please be patient, since I freely admit I don't know what I'm doing with the lawn.

We have some bald spots in the lawn, and a lot of weeds in the back mostly, so my fiance used a spreader to apply some Weed 'n Feed, then watered it. Very quickly, the grass in those areas turned brown and seemed to die. We watered the lawn again with a sprinkler to dilute the Weed 'n Feed, then we got a heavy rain thanks to a tropical storm.

Obviously we won't apply any more Weed 'n Feed, but is there something we should be doing to help the lawn recover? Will the grass come back? Should we be seeding those areas for grass, or is it too hot now (we're in north Florida) to try to seed the lawn?

I will take some pictures and add them to this thread. I apologize for not already having pictures of it. It looks awful, and I'd like to help it improve and look better.

 

[Chuck]

My fiance and I bought our first house together in December. I have never taken care of a lawn before (always rented and had the grass mowed by the property management), so please be patient, since I freely admit I don't know what I'm doing with the lawn.

We have some bald spots in the lawn, and a lot of weeds in the back mostly, so my fiance used a spreader to apply some Weed 'n Feed, then watered it. Very quickly, the grass in those areas turned brown and seemed to die. We watered the lawn again with a sprinkler to dilute the Weed 'n Feed, then we got a heavy rain thanks to a tropical storm.

Obviously we won't apply any more Weed 'n Feed, but is there something we should be doing to help the lawn recover? Will the grass come back? Should we be seeding those areas for grass, or is it too hot now (we're in north Florida) to try to seed the lawn?

I will take some pictures and add them to this thread. I apologize for not already having pictures of it. It looks awful, and I'd like to help it improve and look better.

What grass is it? Bermuda or St. Augustine or something else? Being in Florida it is probably one of the two or both mixed together. If you want Bermuda now is the time to seed as Bermuda needs HOT weather to best germinate. If St. Augustine it only comes as turf, no seeds. What you should do now is spread about 1/4"-1/2" of good quality compost over your lawn and then either sow seed or lay down the turf and well water it in. If going with the turf rent a roller and roll it so as to make good root to soil contact and remove any air pockets. After all this is done and the seeds have germinated get a fertilizer spreader and spread a good quality organic fertilizer. Remove any Scott's product from your brain and memory and never be tempted to use anything made by them ever again. If you go and stay organic you will never have serious problems

 

[Mary Jo]

I think it's Bermuda grass, because it has those runners I need to trim back from flower beds. I am definitely going to steer clear of things like Weed 'n Feed! It looked better before we used it. Thank you for your help!