How to Treat Crabgrass

Crabgrass spreads quickly if it is not treated immediately. All lawns are candidates for having crabgrass. But maintaining your lawn regularly is the best way to keep crabgrass away. Take control over the lawn that is yours and bring back the beauty for all the world to see.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Pre-emergent herbicide
• Grass seed
• Lawn fertilizer
• Rake
• Lawn mower

1. Treat crabgrass with a pre-emergence herbicide before it germinates or spreads, usually between mid-March and mid-May. Have it done professionally to avoid killing your lawn as well as the crabgrass. Or, be careful to treat only the crabgrass infected areas and then spread grass seed to help the grass grow back.

2. Wet your lawn and then pull or rake out the crabgrass late in the fall after the weather has turned colder and your lawn is entering the dormant phase. This will slow the crabgrass from spreading in the spring when it will begin to grow and spread wildly. This will give you time to have your lawn treated properly in the spring before the crabgrass gets out of hand.

3. Maintain your lawn when it is at its healthiest. Make sure to mow your lawn regularly. A lawn that is thick with grass, well-watered and well-fertilized will have less chance of growing crabgrass.

4. Fertilize your lawn every six weeks beginning in early spring (around mid-March) until it goes into its dormant season, which depends on your climate. Many fertilizers have crabgrass killers in them that will also protect your lawn. If you use these fertilizers regularly throughout your lawns most active growing times you should be able to keep the crabgrass under control.