How to Eliminate Crabgrass
Getting rid of crabgrass in your flowerbeds and lawn can be tricky. It can grow just about anywhere and there aren't many places you'd want it. Sometimes it may be camouflaged in grassy corners of your yard, but it yellows early in the season and makes a lawn look unkempt. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
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Apply a pre-emergent herbicide after the forsythias have bloomed but before the lilacs have bloomed. A pre-emergent herbicide will control crabgrass by stopping its seeds from sprouting. Dimension and Tupersan are name brands for two effective treatments for preventing crabgrass infestations. Corn gluten is a natural pre-emergent herbicide for organic gardeners.
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Fertilize in the autumn, not the spring. Early frosts will kill crabgrass, so fertilizing in autumn will feed the other plants, allowing them to grow healthier than the crabgrass. When you fertilize in spring, it feeds the crabgrass, too.
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3
Cover bare spots in fall by overseeding, so that the new grass has a chance to sprout and root before spring comes. In spring, cover bare spots with sod so the crabgrass doesn't have a place to grow.
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Water deeply and less frequently during the summer. Crabgrass grows shallow and will die out if the topmost layer of soil is allowed to dry out between waterings. A healthy lawn can handle 1 good soaking each week, instead of daily shorter waterings.
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Set your mower blade between 2 1/2 and 3 inches high, so that the sun can't get down to the ground to germinate the crabgrass seeds.
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Pull them. If you do have a patch of crabgrass coming up, water the ground heavily and pull it up by the roots before it has a chance to go to seed.
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Tips & Warnings
Never aerate your lawn after applying a pre-emergent herbicide. You'll break the protective barrier.
