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Hello,
I applied Yates BuffaloPro Lawn Fertiliser using a hose-on applicator to a 100 m² lawn.
The fertiliser was applied in two applications, one week apart, using half a bottle each time.
Since then, the lawn has deteriorated and looks worse than before.
Could you please advise what might have caused this?
Thank you
Pedro
Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @pedroea. It's wonderful to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about lawn fertiliser.
If possible, could you share a photo of what the lawn looked like before applying the fertiliser? It’s clearly browning off now, but without knowing its condition beforehand, it’s difficult to pinpoint what has changed and by how much. For example, was the lawn evenly green prior to application, or were there already brown or thinning patches that have since expanded?
It’s worth noting that fertiliser doesn’t usually cause this type of decline on its own when applied at the correct rate, particularly a hose-on product used as directed. More often, browning like this points to an underlying issue that was already present. Common causes include heat stress, insufficient irrigation, compacted soil, or root stress. If the lawn was already struggling due to hot weather or lack of water, fertilising won’t correct that and can sometimes make the symptoms appear worse if watering wasn’t increased.
I do note that under precautions, it lists: To avoid burning, do not apply if the maximum temperature exceeds 30 °C or if the lawn is suffering moisture stress. Is it possible that the product could have been applied on a day that exceeded 30 °C?
How has the lawn been watered recently, especially on hotter days? Buffalo lawns, in particular, need consistent deep watering in warm conditions, and dry stress is a common cause of sudden decline.
If you can provide a bit more detail about the lawn’s condition before application, along with how it’s being irrigated, and ideally a photo, that will make it much easier to work out what’s going on and how best to get it back on track. At this point, it would be best to apply a seaweed-based tonic, such as Seasol, to help with stress and ensure adequate irrigation. The soil should remain moist, but not wet.
I've reached out to the Yates technical team, and they encourage you to contact them for further assistance.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Mitchell
Hi, it had two patches,
I applied it to try to fix it, weirdly, the patches are better now while the rest is looking bad haha
Last application was on the 5th of Jan, was 26o, tue was 27o, wed 32o, thu 34o, fri 32, sat 42o.
however one resident mentioned it was looking bad before sat 42o.
the lawn was not regularly watered, but always looked ok, recently I add a sprinkler and asked a resident to turn it one daily for a few minutes in morning. Tried to push a irrigating system, but budget 🤷 haha
will try the seasol tonic next time, hope it comes back.
thank you
At this stage @pedroea, I would recommend reaching out to the Yates technical team with your images. Not only can they check batches of the product to ensure it is not the cause, but they are also happy to provide general advice on what might have caused this. Although the decline is unusual after application, I suspect there is something else at play that has caused the dieback. What are the chances the resident has been irrigating far more than a few minutes per day? Any chance it could have been left on continuously, and we are seeing the damage from too much water?
I'd dig a small hole and just check to see how saturated the soil is in different areas. If it is only being irrigated 5 minutes per day, you might expect to find moist soil, but if it's wet or saturated, that might give us some clues.
Mitchell
