# How do explain to my neighbor he's using too much fertilizer?



## garydasc (Sep 3, 2021)

My neighbor has about a 3000 sq. ft. lawn like me. He uses a fertilizer I used to use called Richlawn Pro-Rich 14-2-5. It's a chicken litter/synth nute fertilizer that covers up to 5600 sq. ft. He pits down one bag on his front lawn and one bag on his back lawn when even using just one bag for his whole lawn would be too much. He typically fertilizes one application in the spring and one in the fall. I've tried to explain to him that it would be better if he spaced those 4 bags into 4 separate applications but he says that he likes putting it down heavy. Isn't he just wasting much of that fertilizer since a lawn can only absorb so much at once?


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## jskierko (Sep 5, 2020)

It's his money. Only give him advice is he hints that he is seeking it. No sense in ruffling feathers.


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## M32075 (May 9, 2019)

Not necessarily the chicken litter portion of the fertilizer takes a long time to break down it's not as bad as we think but I'm also not knowledgeable on Colorado growing season. I personally agree with you it could be spread out over the season. My neighbors I don't get involved unless they ask


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## Mightyquinn (Jan 31, 2017)

I agree, you can only lead a horse to water, you can't make him drink. It's his money and his lawn, you have already done your part.


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## Harts (May 14, 2018)

Does his grass look good?


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## bernstem (Jan 16, 2018)

If he is happy with the lawn, let him do what he wants. If he asks, then you can offer suggestions.


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## Lawn Noob (Jul 26, 2020)

His yard, his rules. Don't be "that guy", unless he asks for your opinion.


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## Tsmith (Aug 11, 2017)

Although I get your point with spreading apps out you can go heavier with organic fertilizers which I believe that is so no issues within reason from a risk perspective and over doing it at one time

I have a neighbor who asks me questions every year but doesn't follow most of the advice I give and usually ends up doing something completely different then asks me why his lawn doesn't look better.


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## Huntsw1 (Jun 3, 2021)

Tsmith said:


> I have a neighbor who asks me a lot of questions but doesn't follow much of the advice I give and usually ends up doing something completely different then asks me why his lawn doesn't look better.


I am the neighborhood lawn resource. I have 3 neighbors that waste my time asking for advice only to do the complete opposite then complain to me when it doesn't work. The latest is my neighbor who thinks you can just throw down midnight kbg on top of tttf and it will push the tttf out 😡


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## Retromower (Jan 28, 2021)

garydasc said:


> My neighbor has about a 3000 sq. ft. lawn like me. He uses a fertilizer I used to use called Richlawn Pro-Rich 14-2-5. It's a chicken litter/synth nute fertilizer that covers up to 5600 sq. ft. He pits down one bag on his front lawn and one bag on his back lawn when even using just one bag for his whole lawn would be too much. He typically fertilizes one application in the spring and one in the fall. I've tried to explain to him that it would be better if he spaced those 4 bags into 4 separate applications but he says that he likes putting it down heavy. Isn't he just wasting much of that fertilizer since a lawn can only absorb so much at once?


He probably is wasting it at the very least and causing runoff that is harming the waterways at the worst but if thats what he wants to do, what can you do about it?
To be fair, most people on this site probably use more product than they really should.


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## Thick n Dense (May 7, 2019)

Yea, I agree with others.
Show him the way, then its on him to figure it out.

Does his grass explode with growth where he needs to mow every other day ?
Could be something worth mentioning so he doesnt have to mow as often.

For the avergae person, this is how the lawn care business works. The spraying company comes out and shoots a high N product most the time devod of P or K. The homeowner OR lawncare company comes and mows when its over 5". Cuts it down to 2.5" and its an endless loop of crappy looking lawn.

That could be another point. But like others, its his world.


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## BurtMacklinFBI (Jul 17, 2021)

Huntsw1 said:


> I am the neighborhood lawn resource. I have 3 neighbors that waste my time asking for advice only to do the complete opposite then complain to me when it doesn't work.


I'm no authority haha but my lawn looks damn good and my mother who is big on keeping her lawn looking good asks me all the time what I'm doing. Unfortunately her lawn doesn't look as good but its not terrible. Since I write down everything I do as I go and make changes as I see fit, it was easy to just give her a copy of my schedule. She substituted literally every product I use, refuses to dethatch because its probably too much work (I grew up in the house and even now I can safely say that lawn hasn't been dethatched or aerated in well over 35 years). I've offered up my sprayer and herbicides to do her lawn... ect.... but won't use them. And she still wonders why her lawn is all clover and won't grow thicker.


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## garydasc (Sep 3, 2021)

His lawn looks great right after an application but he has burned it a few times, he just knows now to water it like crazy after he applies it. The trouble is, his lawn runs out of gas by the heat of summer and then he complains that his lawn can't handle the heat. He's always asking my advice since he knows I've used the same fertilizer and my lawn looks good throughout the whole summer. I just would like a scientific explanation for him so maybe he won't keep asking what I do, then keep doing what is causing his problems. He is contributing to excess nitrogen leeching and run-off since our storm drains run into a river and we are just above that river, but he doesn't care about that. I guess I'm just tired of hearing him bitch and then watching him continue to do the same thing despite my advice.


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

garydasc said:


> His lawn looks great right after an application but he has burned it a few times, he just knows now to water it like crazy after he applies it. The trouble is, his lawn runs out of gas by the heat of summer and then he complains that his lawn can't handle the heat. He's always asking my advice since he knows I've used the same fertilizer and my lawn looks good throughout the whole summer. I just would like a scientific explanation for him so maybe he won't keep asking what I do, then keep doing what is causing his problems. He is contributing to excess nitrogen leeching and run-off since our storm drains run into a river and we are just above that river, but he doesn't care about that. I guess I'm just tired of hearing him b---- and then watching him continue to do the same thing despite my advice.


You: "Oh yeah? Lawn's not good enough in Summer for ya? You know, two major causes of lawns getting weak in Summer are disease, and...Nitrogen levels being too high in the soil. Ever heard that?"

Neigh: "Huhhh. Well, I don't know. I mean I'm watering enough, but it just doesn't react too well. How do you know if you have disease? And what did you say about soil levels?"

You: "All the water in the world is useless if the grass isn't healthy. Too much water and fertilizer can worsen disease. You can tell there's disease usually if you see blotches on the blades...Soil Nitrogen...if the level is too high, it increases disease and decreases drought and heat tolerance."

Neigh: "How do you lower your Nitrogen level?"

You: "Usually high Nitrogen levels mean a lot of Fertilizer was recently put down."

Neigh: "I see what you're saying. I have to fertilize, though. Maybe I should try using a little less in the Summer."


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## bigbearbear (Sep 7, 2021)

Well, if it really irritates you, go dump 4 bags of fertilizer into his lawn when he's not at home. That way, when he applies his bag, the lawn gets toasted and you'll just happen to be outside going tsk tsk....told you so. hahhah..... :mrgreen:

If I were you, I'll just mind my own business and leave him be. Its not a crime to apply fertilizer and he is free to apply as much as he wants to. Most people will realize sooner or later that it is not working and will eventually find out how to do it properly, or they will rip out their lawn and replace it with artificial turf.


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## lbb091919 (Apr 26, 2020)

Green said:


> You: "Oh yeah? Lawn's not good enough in Summer for ya? You know, two major causes of lawns getting weak in Summer are disease, and...Nitrogen levels being too high in the soil. Ever heard that?"
> 
> Neigh: "Huhhh. Well, I don't know. I mean I'm watering enough, but it just doesn't react too well. How do you know if you have disease? And what did you say about soil levels?"
> 
> ...


If only it was this easy. In my case, most of these conversations don't end up being a discussion, but rather the neighbor not listening and already having a response queued up about what they're going to do.

Some have mentioned, "it's his lawn/money he can do what he wants" and I totally agree with that until the products and watering are on your property. My neighbor waters light and frequent and fertilizes heavy and often and both of these habits affect a few feet of my property line. This can get very frustrating when watering using ET and trying to fine tune nutrient inputs. Many hints have been dropped, but again, in one ear and out the other.


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## garydasc (Sep 3, 2021)

Green said:


> garydasc said:
> 
> 
> > His lawn looks great right after an application but he has burned it a few times, he just knows now to water it like crazy after he applies it. The trouble is, his lawn runs out of gas by the heat of summer and then he complains that his lawn can't handle the heat. He's always asking my advice since he knows I've used the same fertilizer and my lawn looks good throughout the whole summer. I just would like a scientific explanation for him so maybe he won't keep asking what I do, then keep doing what is causing his problems. He is contributing to excess nitrogen leeching and run-off since our storm drains run into a river and we are just above that river, but he doesn't care about that. I guess I'm just tired of hearing him b---- and then watching him continue to do the same thing despite my advice.
> ...


That sounds like a very logical explanation but he probably still won't listen but I will try. He just has this compulsion that if one bag is good, 2 is better. Even if he just used one bag, he would still be over fertilizing since one bag covers 5600 and he has only 3000 but it would work out much better for him than throwing down 2 bags at once (Enough to cover 11,200 sq. ft.!) Although I hate to see him contribute to excess fertilizer run-off, he's not the only one around here who is doing that. My issue is he keeps complaining about his lawn but he can't see how backing off "too much of a good thing" will help. He just came home with his 2 bags of Pro-Rich on Sunday and he's just chomping at the bit to put it all down.


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## garydasc (Sep 3, 2021)

bigbearbear said:


> Well, if it really irritates you, go dump 4 bags of fertilizer into his lawn when he's not at home. That way, when he applies his bag, the lawn gets toasted and you'll just happen to be outside going tsk tsk....told you so. hahhah..... :mrgreen:
> 
> If I were you, I'll just mind my own business and leave him be. Its not a crime to apply fertilizer and he is free to apply as much as he wants to. Most people will realize sooner or later that it is not working and will eventually find out how to do it properly, or they will rip out their lawn and replace it with artificial turf.


I really couldn't care less what he does and it doesn't affect my lawn at all but it's the fact that he keeps asking for my advice and opinion yet can't get away from "putting it down heavy". He even admits that it would just be too hard for him to try to spread only one bag on both his front and back yards. He's just programed to put a bag down on each side of his yard. The fertilizer company even sells smaller bags that cover 2500 sq ft or something like that but he says the bags are too small! Plus they aren't as good of a deal!


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## Thick n Dense (May 7, 2019)

Might be time to get more agressive and say something like " well I told you what to adjust already and you actually did the opposite of what I said."

Or text him a link to this thread lol

Or tell him to look up the definition of insanity.

Is his spreader crap maybe? 
I notice with mine, bigger granulaes dont work well at smaller rates, so i open up the chute cause i have to and I end up putting down more than I want.


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## MasterMech (Sep 24, 2017)

garydasc said:


> .... He even admits that it would just be too hard for him to try to spread only one bag on both his front and back yards. ....


So tickle his deal nerve. Tell him you know just how to save even more and improve his lawn. Win Win. Then, have him go buy the biggest bag he can find and cut the top off it. Fill his spreader, set it properly (assuming he has never calibrated it right?) and make the application. Then dump the remainder in the spreader back into the open top bag. Tell him to not touch (or at least Sharpie it on the hopper...) the spreader setting and repeat in xx weeks. He'll save money, his lawn will look better, and he may have Tom Sawyer'd you into doing a fert app for him. If he doesn't get it after that, maybe suggest he give Tru-Green a call. :lol:


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## Factor (Oct 10, 2019)

garydasc said:


> My neighbor has about a 3000 sq. ft. lawn like me. He uses a fertilizer I used to use called Richlawn Pro-Rich 14-2-5. It's a chicken litter/synth nute fertilizer that covers up to 5600 sq. ft. He pits down one bag on his front lawn and one bag on his back lawn when even using just one bag for his whole lawn would be too much. He typically fertilizes one application in the spring and one in the fall. I've tried to explain to him that it would be better if he spaced those 4 bags into 4 separate applications but he says that he likes putting it down heavy. Isn't he just wasting much of that fertilizer since a lawn can only absorb so much at once?


If he is not on this forum. Then it likely wont matter what you say. Some people learn by example, some by teaching, and others learn by falling on the head. The rest dont care.

Most people are really Tier .000025.


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## FATC1TY (Jul 12, 2017)

I just found it funny, but the whole "put the whole bag down regardless of measuring " is why the big box stores are so expensive and diluted products.

They have to make them somewhat safe and to the detriment of making them weakened. People will use a whole bottle of something, or multiple bottles to fix an issue, without really figuring out what they need.

Got fungus? Get 4 bottles that cover 20,000sq ft, for the 2000sq ft area. Spray it all on there…. More product is better results, it's just common thinking for most stuff.


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## JayGo (Jun 13, 2019)

Retromower said:


> To be fair, most people on this site probably use more product than they really should.


Dude, you ain't kidding.


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## cglarsen (Dec 28, 2018)

Why are you worried about his lawn, really?


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## Thick n Dense (May 7, 2019)

cglarsen said:


> Why are you worried about his lawn, really?


I think its more the fact of

a.) OP wants to help a fellow human out

b.) it baffles the OP how one can be so dumb or misinformed but so lost that even with proper info. Bad decisions continue to be made almost like a gambler who lost his life savings then took out a loan on the house to continue.

Some people just cant be helped even if they ask for it...


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## Austinite (Oct 4, 2018)

I personally stopped giving advice to neighbors. It either ends up being a looooong, fruitless conversation or they are left with a confused look. All my neighbors (except one down the street) are big-box store guys. If it's not at Home Depot, they don't get it. I DO however, spray adjacent neighbor lawns with insecticides (i do it because it benefits me). Other than that, I just enjoy the domination lines.


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