Banish Brown Lawn Spots with Beer

Beer has been touted as a cheap way to fertilize your lawn and get rid of ugly brown spots caused by disease and pets. One of the simplest spot-removal methods is to saturate the grass with a can of beer, wait a few days and try again.

Step 1: Plot the Yard

Before you begin mixing, count how many brown spots you have in your yard and how large they are. You will need a least a cup of the mixture on each spot. Larger spots will require more of the liquid.

Step 2: Mix

The basic recipe calls for:

• 1 can beer
• 1 cup ammonia
• 1 can regular cola

If you find this is not enough, double the mixture, using the same proportion of ingredients. Mix together and pour into a clean 20 gallon hose end sprayer. 

Step 3: Spray

Find all the brown spots in your yard. Use the sprayer to saturate each spot with the home made mixture. This mixture should give the plants vital nutrients and kill any fungi that have made its home in your yard. Do not be stingy when applying the spray. The more spray you lay down, the more effective it will be.

Step 4: Wait

Once you have thoroughly sprayed your yard, wait for a week. Do not allow your pets or children on the yard. Ammonia is toxic and needs a chance to settle. New grass will also need time to grow. It cannot do this if it is constantly being stepped on. Once the week is over, check your yard for improvement. If you don’t see any improvement, or if the brown spots aren’t completely gone you will need to spray again.

Step 5: Repeat

You will need to make a new batch of the beer mixture each week you spray your yard. Follow the same instructions and saturate each brown spot with the mixture. You may need to repeat this process several times, depending on the damage. Be patient. Grass will not be able to completely grow back in a week, no matter what you do.

Step 6: Prevention

Brown spots can be caused by disease or pets. If you find it is a pet problem, you continually have to fight brown spots, or you will need to find a more inviting area for them to do their business. If you have diseased grass, you can continue using the beer mixture, or you can make a trip to your local lawn and garden store. They will be able to tell you the exact problem and other methods you can use to fix it.