Gardener seeks answers after unwittingly spraying wrong product all over lawn: 'What do I do?'

Mistakes are an unfortunate and unavoidable part of life. One homeowner learned the hard way that blunders made in your yard can be time-consuming and potentially costly. 

In a post shared on Reddit, a gardener asked for advice on how to recover from using the wrong product on their lawn. The post shows a photo of their turf with brown and yellow splotches from a weedkiller application, followed by a photo of the spray.

The product in question is Roundup weedkiller. The OP, who is from Australia, was not clear if they were meant to spray a different type of herbicide or something else entirely, but they wrote: "Sprayed wrong product and have killed the grass! What do I do?"  

Glyphosate-based herbicides have been linked to cancer and harm to the environment. 

In a 2021 press release, the Center for Biological Diversity evaluated the Environmental Protection Agency's research on glyphosate, reporting that "glyphosate is likely causing harm to 1,676 of the plants and animals protected under the Endangered Species Act." 

While the EPA maintains that glyphosate does not pose a risk to human health, other reporting and lawsuits suggest otherwise. 

As of May 2022, Roundup's parent company had paid over $11 billion in lawsuits that claimed "Bayer had failed to adequately warn about the risk of cancer from Roundup," as reported by Forbes. 

If, like many folks, you would like to move away from chemical herbicides, there are plenty of alternatives. Firstly, you may opt to utilize yard cover that needs less maintenance. There are several natural lawn options that are better adapted to your local environment and need fewer pesticides and much less water. Many people can save hundreds of dollars a year on lawn care. 

Another option to explore is to create a native plant garden. These species are adapted to your local ecosystem, so they need less maintenance and will attract beneficial wildlife to your yard. Pollinators need native plants to survive and thrive, and humans need pollinators to help grow our crops. Pollinators support about one in three bites of the food we eat, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.  

Redditors had plenty of advice for this gardener. 

One person said: "I did this last year before an international trip. … Eventually the buffalo spreads and regrows. It does take months and months though."

Another commenter suggested, "Fertilise the good grass around the patches to encourage it to spread to the dead patches! 

Mistakes happen, but with some helpful advice, this lawn should recover. 

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