Fix My Mistake - Over-Fertilization Help

Applied too much fertilizer? Enter what you used below. You will get a severity rating and step-by-step instructions to minimize the damage.

Over-Fertilization Assessment

The 3 numbers on the bag (e.g. 10-10-10)
Total weight of fertilizer you spread on the area
Size of lawn or garden bed you treated
How much nitrogen your plant should get per application. Default is 1.0 for most lawns.

What is Fertilizer Burn?

Fertilizer burn occurs when excess nitrogen creates a salt concentration in the soil that draws water away from plant roots through osmosis. Symptoms include brown or yellow leaf edges, wilting despite adequate water, white salt crust on soil, and in severe cases, dead patches in lawns.

Learn more in our complete fertilizer burn guide.

General Recovery Steps

  1. Water immediately and heavily. Run a sprinkler for 30+ minutes to flush excess salts below the root zone. Repeat daily for 3-5 days.
  2. Remove visible granules. If you can still see undissolved fertilizer granules, rake or vacuum them up before watering.
  3. Stop all fertilization. Do not apply any more fertilizer for at least 4-6 weeks.
  4. Monitor for recovery. New growth should appear within 2-4 weeks if the damage is mild to moderate.
  5. Consider reseeding. For severe lawn burn, you may need to reseed or resod dead patches after 4-6 weeks.