Maintaining your lawn isn't easy, and mistakes happen, as this Redditor discovered when they misread the directions of their fertilizer.
Redditors came to the homeowner's aid — but not with good news.
The homeowner shared a photo of their now-destroyed grass on the r/lawncare subreddit. They over-fertilized their suspected Kentucky Bluegrass or perennial Rye lawn.
"It was beautiful, thick, and green before," the poster wrote.
Now, the pictures show mostly dead grass. They said they've been watering the grass for an hour each day with no luck. The homeowner asked how they should proceed in restoring their lawn.
One of the Redditors called it "renovation-level damage." It appears the owner will have to start all over again.
While the mishap is devastating, it could be a great time to upgrade to a natural lawn. Natural lawns are native to the area and can make your life much easier. In other words, no fertilizer mishaps can happen again.
They require less water, pesticides, fertilizers, and mowing, which can save you time and money. A natural lawn could save you an estimated $225 annually on water and $100 on fertilizer and pesticides.
A clover yard is an excellent alternative to your regular grass lawn. For one, it's inexpensive to seed — only $1 to seed about 1,000 square feet. It's drought-resistant, so you don't have to worry about spending a lot of money watering it. And since it has a deep root system, it helps prevent erosion by keeping the soil in place.
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Mowing the lawn 🏡 According to Fine Gardening, other low-maintenance lawns you can choose from include thyme, mazus, dwarf cinquefoil, golden carpet sedum, and Dutch white clover. Always check to see what is native to your area before planting.
Native lawns are also great for the environment because they attract pollinators, which are crucial to food production. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says 80% of the 1,400 crops grown worldwide for food and plant-based products require pollination.
As for this homeowner's lawn, Redditors shared some advice in the comments.
"This was an expensive lesson for you, but you can still have some fun with it and learn from your mistake," one user wrote.
"My dog does this to my backyard every year," another Redditor commented. "Fall overseed will be the next chance to fix it."
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