Question:
Crabgrass is taking over my lawn. What can I use to kill it before I reseed the areas?Answer:
- Crabgrass is an annual weed that is a problem during the summer and fall months. Seed heads form starting in late August and continues throughout the fall. It then disappears during the winter leaving behind bare spots and seeds to germinate the following year.
- For years, no better yet decades, Crabgrass has been mistakenly used as a general name for all sorts of weeds especially Bermuda Grass. Bermuda Grass a different problematical grass that is not affected by the Crabgrass controls.
- Bermuda has short, narrow leaves and wiry stems while Crabgrass is herbaceous with broad, green blades. Also, it is a perennial grass that turns brown with cold weather leaving a network of narrow stems. Crabgrass disappears entirely leaving the ground bare.
- Turflon Ester from Monterey Lawn and Garden kills actively growing Bermuda Grass in turf while Crabgrass controls will not. If you’re not sure what you have, take a sample to your favorite garden center. The nursery professionals on staff should be able to assist you in determining your problem
- Wind is the primary means of spreading Crabgrass seeds, but another contributor can be a gardening service. It’s fairly typical that between jobs equipment is not cleaned. The equipment can quickly move the Crabgrass seed from one location to another.
- The summertime Crabgrass problem was pretty much a non-issue fifteen years ago. A dormant season application of a pre-emergent herbicide prevented the problem. But times have changed, and the application of a pre-emergent Crabgrass control has declined increasing the problem during the summer months.
- Fortunately, you can control the actively growing Crabgrass. Bayer Advanced All-In-One Lawn Weed and Crabgrass Control is one of several brands available. It kills actively growing Crabgrass without damaging the grass as well as many other problematical broadleaf weeds such as Dandelion.
- Unfortunately, there are no specific organic controls for the actively, growing Crabgrass other than manually weeding the area. This isn’t a practical solution in many cases. Vinegar is often mentioned as a control, but you have to be very careful when applying it. You can only spot treat a lawn as it kills both desirable and undesirable grasses. Using Bayer All-In-One Lawn Weed and Crabgrass Control, the Crabgrass should turn yellow and die within three weeks.
- Applied now, this will leave you just enough time to reseed the bare patches with Scott’s EZ Seed or Pennington One Step. These products contain a super absorbent growing material that absorbs water and expands to surround the seed in a moist, protective layer along with a fertilizer. All you’ll do is sprinkle the material across the area and water. The organic control for the dormant seed is corn gluten, but you can’t reseed right away. You need to check the label for the waiting periods. It’s usually months.