Is fertlizer killing my grass?

[IFallsRon]

My brother-in-law said he was talking to a rural guy who sells fertlizer and stuff of that nature to farmers. The guy said you should be careful using fertlizers with urea. Seems that the urea can burn out new grass. He also mentioned something about adding lime yearly to yards over seven years old because their Ph is probably off. The lime suggested was different than what is available at Fleet or Menard's. Any of you landscape guys care to comment?

[LwnmwnMan2]

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My brother-in-law said he was talking to a rural guy who sells fertlizer and stuff of that nature to farmers. The guy said you should be careful using fertlizers with urea. Seems that the urea can burn out new grass. He also mentioned something about adding lime yearly to yards over seven years old because their Ph is probably off. The lime suggested was different than what is available at Fleet or Menard's. Any of you landscape guys care to comment?

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The urea question....

It's going to depend on the formulation, as with any fertilizer. The more urea (typically straight nitrogen with little slow release) means that yes, you're going to be at higher risk for burn.

It DOESN'T mean it's killing the lawn however. Alot of chemical companies run 46-0-0 urea as the nitrogen, which gives unbelieveable top growth and the dark green color, which makes most homeowners THINK they're getting the best bang for the buck.

Now I have a 10-0-20 that I spread, which has some urea, but it's also 65% slow release, which greatly reduces burn, and also builds root structure / winterizes.

The lime question..... this is where you're going to have to run a soil sample periodically. There's different factors that are going to change a pH level in a yard. What type of fertilizing you're doing, what type of leaves you have / pine needles, whether you mulch leaves or not.

Sure, you can just lime your yard, since it's really not going to hurt anything, but what's the use of spending the money and doing the work if you're not getting any benefit either??