# Is it best practice to water in any fertilizer with nitrogen in it?



## Glen_Cove_5511 (Jun 13, 2020)

A few days ago I spread some fertilizer. Once I was done, I swept some fertilizer off of some stepping stones into the grass. Today, I have noticed there is fertilizer burn around the stepping stones where I had swept it off. I didn't water the fertilizer in since it was granular, I thought it would be OK to leave it until the next irrigation cycle, which was two days later. I'm not sure what happened unless the morning dew was just enough moisture to cause the fertilizer in those areas to be too much. Here is the Lesco fertilizer that I spread.


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## Clay19 (10 mo ago)

Sweeping it may have created a concentration of fertilizer along the edge. If so, the high nitrogen and salts may have burned the grass- the salts draw out whatever moisture was present.

Another possibility is if you've had very hot weather, could the heat from the stones in the sun also be drying out the grass? Or even a combination of over fertilization and heat.

I'll let others weigh in, but in over fertilized situations, watering doesn't always help unless you can somehow wash away most of the fert. That's been my experience when spilling too much urea in one spot.


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## Glen_Cove_5511 (Jun 13, 2020)

Thanks @Clay19... it definitely wasn't heat, so I'm going with too much concentration. I was hoping that I could get in a routine of watering in any nitrogen apps afterwards to prevent this from happening again.


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## LawnKiller (Jun 9, 2021)

If it's a prominent part of the lawn and it's bugging you, you could cut out this turf section and put it in a piece from another area of the garden. Otherwise, it should fill back in reasonably quickly this time of the year, especially since there is plenty of fertilizer in that area.

One tip to avoid this kind of situation in the future is to lower the amount of fertilizer you put down at a time and instead put it on more frequently, which will reduce the chances of getting too much concentration in one area.

Another good tip is to use a hosepipe instead of a brush and wash away any fertilizer on your patio. Ideally, use the hose to push the water away from any specific spot, and it should dilute any remaining fertilizer down to nothing.


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## Glen_Cove_5511 (Jun 13, 2020)

Thanks @LawnKiller, great suggestions. I appreciate it.


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