Question
I live in western Pennsylvania. I have a rather large (1 acre) lawn. Yesterday I purchased Vigaro winterizer fertilizer and started to put it down with a tractor pulled braodcast spreader.

Due to a spreader setting malfunction before I noticed it I had applied fertilizer for 15000 square feet to about 2000 square feet. I'm sure this will burn out the affected area. are there any corrected measures I can take now? How long do you think I should wait before attempting to reseed?

The product I used is 22-3-14


Thanks for your help

Carl Meyers

Answer
Good afternoon Carl:

Water the 2000 square feet (if you can identify it) thoroughly with at least an inch of water for 4 consecutive days. There is no guarantee that this will work, but doing this may reduce potential damage.
Lawn damage from too much fertilizer or spilled fertilizer is often caused by excessive salts in the soil. Flushing the area with water to dilute the salts and move them below the root zone is the only way to minimize damage.
If you do not apply enough water the fertilizer will not leach itself away from the root zone.
The best time to apply a winter fertilizer is late November (around Thanksgiving day). Winterizer fertilizer is a fast release type. The rest of the year you should use a slow release type fertilizer. Fast release will be more at risk of damaging your lawn if too much is used or is accidentally spilled.  
Just because the stores have winterizer fertilizer on their shelves now doesn't mean that it is a good time to apply it. Winterizer fertilizers are used to promote root growth during the winter months so that next spring more grass will grow from the new roots.

I would wait until next spring and see what damage , if any, has been done. I would then re-seed, if necessary, very early next spring. I can guide you about re-seeding when you are ready.

Have a good lawn!
Floyd McMahon