Activiated charcoal powder may help neutralize the herbicide. It certainly
won't harm anything to try.

Activiated charcoal powder may help neutralize the herbicide. It
certainly
won't harm anything to try.

Nah -- she just needs to get the ground good and soaked several times over
and it will wash through (well, assuming it's not a swampy-type of yard).
Depending on where she is, if she waits a month or two I'll wager mama
natura will handle that for her.

James

I truly appreciate all the wonderful responses to my post. After
reading all of the posts I feel even worse than I did when I realized
the results of my actions. I just have NO experience with gardening
or lawns AT ALL. I had never heard of a spreader, I did it with a cup
because to me, it seemed like it was the only way I could distribute
the weed n feed from the 50lb bag. Anyway, I obviously learned a very
hard and valuable lesson from all of this.

I'm not sure I even know how to do many of the recommended solutions,
I don't even know what composte is, although I assume it's a mixture
of dirt of some sort. I'll probably be forced to wait it and try to
over saturate it with water since I'm 6 months pregnant and any
serious physical work at this point is out of the question. My
husband works so much he just manages to get the lawn mowed once a
week, and I thought I could help with the weed n feed. Hopefully from
reading this newsgroup I will become much more experienced with taking
care of my lawn. If this situation doesn't improve itself in a few
months, I guess I'll have to hire someone to come in and fix the
problem spots.

Thank you all so much for your efforts to help me!

Michelle

(MIchelle) expounded:

I truly appreciate all the wonderful responses to my post. After
reading all of the posts I feel even worse than I did when I realized
the results of my actions. I just have NO experience with gardening
or lawns AT ALL. I had never heard of a spreader, I did it with a cup
because to me, it seemed like it was the only way I could distribute
the weed n feed from the 50lb bag. Anyway, I obviously learned a very
hard and valuable lesson from all of this.

Michelle, don't take it all too hard, but one thing bothers me I
hadn't thought of before.....you used a cup, and tossed it, which
means you breathed in even more dust than using a spreader. Keep in
mind these are strong chemicals you're using, so it is extremely
important to read, read, read before you use any of them.

For that matter, don't use chemical lawn food at all. It gives the
lawn a huge jolt, the lawn grows like crazy and needs to be cut more
frequently, and then needs more fertilizer to maintain the look....as
well as water. A heavily (chemical) fertilized lawn requires more
water. If you use any of those products on a drought stressed lawn
you'll see similar results to what you've seen already.

I don't know where you are, but I've had good luck here in New England
with the Espoma products, which is an organic line of fertilizers. I
use it twice a year, spring and fall, and have a wonderful lawn. Take
care from now on, and good luck with your lawn!

--
Ann, Gardening in zone 6a
Just south of Boston, MA
********************************

MIchelle wrote:
I'm a new homeowner and pretty inexperienced with gardening. At the
beginning of Spring when my lawn was overrun with dandelions and
weeds, I ran out to Kmart and bought a 50lb bag of weed n feed. I
stupidly didn't read the instructions figuring I couldn't do much hard
because it was a "feed". Well, I was definitely wrong. I "spread" it
with a cup and dumped a whole cup on areas of large weeds. Well,
needless to say, and much to my horror, have many large patches of
brown dead grass!!! It just looks horrible!

At this point, is there anything at all I can do aside from digging up
the many dead patches and re-seeding? Is there any chance that the
grass will grow there again?

Please help!

Thanks,
Michelle


My wife did the same thing last year. I knew something was dreadfully
wrong when I got home from work and smelled 2,4-d. I was afraid it was
going to kill all the trees as well as most of the grass. Luckily, it
only killed a few spots of grass, although I think it might be why the
daffodils in the lawn did so badly this year and the crocuses didn't bloom.

The grass looks awful this year, with small dead spots still, but it's
starting to fill in. I'll reseed those spots next week and by next year
it will be OK again.

I usually broadcast cheap agricultural fertilizer by hand *very* lightly
in the spring (a high nitrogen blend, like maybe 20-3-3 or 15-5-10.) I
use a mulching mower so the grass can recycle the nutrients. (last year
I bagged my clippings because I was trying to get rid of the excess
nutrients). In the fall I fertilizer very lightly with something like
10-20-10. I don't worry about nutsedge or crabgrass, I just keep them
mowed. I spot treat dandelions and thistles and plantains with a spray
bottle of 2,4-d. Other weeds cannot compete with the grass as long as
it is mowed regularly.

Best regards,
Bob

On Sat, 17 May 2003 15:11:44 -0400, "JNJ" wrote:

Activiated charcoal powder may help neutralize the herbicide. It
certainly
won't harm anything to try.

Nah -- she just needs to get the ground good and soaked several times over
and it will wash through (well, assuming it's not a swampy-type of yard).
Depending on where she is, if she waits a month or two I'll wager mama
natura will handle that for her.

James


It will not wash through, but out and over and down into our storm drains, which
is what is causing a major problem with hydrilla in our creeks.

Ann wrote:

I don't know where you are, but I've had good luck here in New England
with the Espoma products, which is an organic line of fertilizers. I
use it twice a year, spring and fall, and have a wonderful lawn. Take
care from now on, and good luck with your lawn!

Hi, Ann: I live in zone 5, and have heard of Espoma.. do you have
pointers to
stores that might carry Espoma products in New England (I haven't seen
them in those that I frequent)? Thanks.

It will not wash through, but out and over and down into our storm drains,
which
is what is causing a major problem with hydrilla in our creeks.

(http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/watershed/hydrilla.htm)

That's certainly unpleasant. Although I see the obvious issue, this is just
one contributing factor to the hydrilla problem (which actually affects much
of the US). This plant is a nasty little bugger.

Unfortunately, in this user's case what is done is done. There are only two
real solutions to her issue -- either it washes through/out of her property
or she digs up and replaces the soil. I doubt she's going to be willing to
excavate her property and it's probably not realistic as this is the rainy
season still in much of the US and she won't get a crew there in time.
Hopefully, we can continue to tout the benefits of organic & naturalist
approaches while convincing her to avoid the use of chemicals.

James

The message
from (MIchelle) contains these words:
I'll probably be forced to wait it and try to
over saturate it with water since I'm 6 months pregnant and any
serious physical work at this point is out of the question. My
husband works so much he just manages to get the lawn mowed once a
week, and I thought I could help with the weed n feed.

You might absorb toxic chemicals via breathing or through your skin,
so it would be sensible to avoid using them while you're carrying or
breastfeeding a child.

Janet

Weed and Feed products are NEVER pre-emergents.

"Stephen M. Henning" wrote in message
news
animaux wrote:

Weed and Feed products are, for the most part, pre-emergent chemicals.

No. Products labeled Weed-N-Feed are fertilizer and contact herbicicide.
The premergence products are labeled such things as Scotts Plus and are
for crab grass.

--
Pardon my spam deterrent; send email to
Cheers, Steve Henning in Reading, PA USA
http://www.users.fast.net/~shenning

Sundar Narasimhan expounded:

Hi, Ann: I live in zone 5, and have heard of Espoma.. do you have
pointers to
stores that might carry Espoma products in New England (I haven't seen
them in those that I frequent)? Thanks.

I buy mine down at Plymouth Farm & Garden, if you go to
http://www.espoma.com there's a store finder/locator you can plug your
zipcode into to find a store near you.

--
Ann, Gardening in zone 6a
Just south of Boston, MA
********************************

On Sun, 18 May 2003 23:33:36 GMT, "Berob" wrote:

Weed and Feed products are NEVER pre-emergents.


http://www.scotts.com/index.cfm?poeS...tegoryId=23671

On the right hand side of the page, four paragraphs down.

"Berob" wrote:
Weed and Feed products are NEVER pre-emergents.

then animaux wrote:
http://www.scotts.com/index.cfm?poeS...seacti on=Pro
ductGuide.CategoryHome&strCategoryId=23671

Scotts' Madison Avenue types really messed up that website. It says:
'Lawn Weed & Feed - Nourish your lawn while you stop broadleaf and
grassy weeds. Deliver even and gradual nutrients plus guaranteed
pre-emergent herbicides to your lawn.'

If you actually go on to read the site, the premergence product is
'Scotts(R) Turf Builder(R) With Halts(R) Crabgrass Preventer' in which the
active ingredient is: 1.71% Pendimethalin, a preemergence herbicide that
does not kill weeds.

"America's favorite weed and feed" is 'Scotts(R) Turf Builder(R) With PLUS
2(R) Weed Control' in which the active ingredients a 1.21% 2,4-D,
0.61% MCPP, neither of which is a preemergence product.

Premergence products include:

1) Balan (benefin)
* Statesman Crabgrass Control for Established Lawns 1.72% G
* Lebanon Balan 2.5% G
* Pennington Penngreen Crabgrass Preventer 2.5% G
2) Team (benefin + trifluralin)
* Ace Crabgrass Preventer with Fertilizer 1.25% G on 25-3-10
* Fertilome Crabgrass Preventer & Lawn Food 1.15% G on 28-3-3
* Hi-Yield Crabgrass Control 2% G
* KGro Premium Crabgrass Preventer Plus Fertilizer 1.25% G on 28-3-4
* Lebanon Team 2% G
* Lebanon 20-3-5 with Team 1.16% G
* Sta-Green Crabgrass Preventer, Team 2.5% G
* Sta-Green Crabgrass Preventer plus Fertilizer, Team 1.28% G
* Wal-Mart Super Team Crabgrass Preventer plus Lawn Fertilizer 1.25% G
on 18-3-6
3) Halts (pendimethalin)
* Scotts Halts Crabgrass Preventer 1.71% G
* Scotts Turf Builder plus Halts 1.21% G on 28-3-4

None are weed and feed products. That is because the preemergence
products are aimed at crabgrass seeds and not weeds. They could be
called deseed and feed. Never expect a preemergence product to kill
weeds. They don't.

--
Pardon my spam deterrent; send email to
Cheers, Steve Henning in Reading, PA USA
http://www.users.fast.net/~shenning

Last year I brought my disgusting neglected lawn back to life by adding topsoil, reseeding, and over seeding. It was green as ever. Then this year, I overseeded and everything was thick and beautiful. As the idiot I am, I bought weed and feed, the yellow pellet ones. I put it into my dispenser and dispensed a TEENIE amount over my grass evenly to give them a little pick me up. 2 DAYS LATER MY ENTIRE LAWN IS 80% DYING YELLO GRASS. ITS ALL RUINED! THEY AREN'T WEAK! THEY ARE DEAD. I'VE LOST A YEARS WORTH OF WORK BECAUSE I TRUSTED THE MANUFACTURER. WHAT THEY SOLD ME WASN'T WEED AND FEED, ITS VEGETATION KILLER. LIKE, IT DIDN'T EVEN REMOTELY FEED THEM WTF IT KILLED EVERYTHING WITH JUST A TINY BIT. I still have literally 90% of the bag unused on my huge lawn, that 10% managed to destroy EVERYTHING. NEVER USE WEED AND FEED.

Remove the dead matter, scratch the ground, seed, protect with straw, and keep moist for 2 weeks.

Agree. I had similar problem, added peat moss last year in error and killed grass. Water, seeding didnt help. This year, added about 1/2 to 3/4 inches of potting soil, sprinkled and raked in general sun&shade type seed, watered every day to keep seed wet. in 1-2 weeks started to see it coming up. Now been 3-4 weeks, almost like a pro golf course. Very little work, no critical procedures. Just daily watering if no rain.