Sodium chloride in soil is killing my lawn

[Prolly]

I decided to do away with my borders and lay a new lawn keeping only my raised areas for flowers.
After lifting the old lawn my gardener spread the soil from the borders over the garden to level it out .
That is what has caused my problem as 3 months ago my husband treat one of the borders with sodium chlorate to kill off persistent weeds.

The new lawn was great for 6weeks but after the first 2 cuts its just dying in large patches all over. at first I thought it may be cement as the gardener had used the old lawned area to mix cement to lay some paving stones .

I have flooded it with water hoping this will flush out what ever is causing it the gardener has been back to see it and is puzzled as to what had caused it , I have only just remembered about the weed killer since he came to check it out.

Can anyone suggest what would help another lawn may go the same way
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[Deleted2797112]

Sodium chloride is salt. Do you mean sodium chlorate - it was banned years ago?

 

[Prolly]

Yes your right my mistake my husband brought it from his allotment goodness knows how long he has had it

 

[Deleted2797112]

Using it is illegal now - you should dispose of it in accordance with the label instructions.

It's a very persistent herbicide and typically prevents growth for around 6 months, maybe longer depending on the soil conditions - a light sandy soil will probably clear faster than heavy clay. First, I'd remove the remains of the lawn. Don't put it in your green waste bin - that goes for composting. Put it in your landfill bin. Remove the areas that were built up with the contaminated soil - same disposal. Then leave the ground alone until you see a healthy crop of weeds starting to grow again or plant some fast-germinating seeds or throwaway test plants. The jury seems to be out on whether sodium chlorate degrades aerobically or anaerobically so doing anything other than leaving alone might make the wait longer. I'd keep the soil moist but not flooded - you risk washing it into other areas while it's still active. Before re-laying the lawn, work in plenty of organic matter.

 

[Prolly]

Thanks for your reply, looks like I've got some hard work ahead of me .

 

[Deleted2797112]

If you are an RHS member or know someone who is and who'll let you use their membership number, you can get access to the free telephone advisory service. They may be able to advise if there are any other actions you can take to speed up the process. They were very helpful to me when my land was poisoned. You should expect a lecture though - as sodium chlorate is banned, it's a criminal offence to use it. They won't dob you in though!

 

[Jackrae]

and if we didn't like the sweetness of sugar it'd probably also be banned for the same reason.

 

[pinenot]

Found this -http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_is_sodium_chlorate_neutralized_after_use_as_weedkiller ...could be worth a try...pinenot

 

[Deleted2797112]

Who is Chris?

Representative of sodium chlorate weedkiller manufacturer?
Professor of chemistry?
Spokesperson for the Chemicals Regulation Directorate?
Some kid on the internet?

Really bad idea.

 

[geraldthehamster]

Using it is illegal now - you should dispose of it in accordance with the label instructions.

It's been illegal even to *store* sodium chlorate since May 2010 ...


Cheers
Richard