How to Treat a Lawn in Winter for Crabgrass

Crabgrass is recognizable for its matlike growth and three-pronged seed heads.

Although some farmers actually grow crabgrass as a forage crop, most consider crabgrass to be an invasive lawn weed. Crabgrass seeds spread into a lawn through wind action. Once crabgrass seeds land in a lawn, they may remain present for years. Managing crabgrass takes consistent administration of good cultural practices yearly. If you slack off in your attempts to fight crabgrass, the seed heads may sow new seeds in your lawn. You can fight crabgrass in your lawn as early in the season as late winter before crabgrass seeds can germinate.

Things You'll Need

• Corn gluten meal pre-emergent herbicide
• Shovel
• Rake
• Garden hose
• Hose end sprinkler

Instructions

1. Time your first application of pre-emergent herbicide for late February prior to the point that the first crabgrass seeds begin to germinate.

2. Select an organic pre-emergent herbicide to fight crabgrass. According to the University of Minnesota, a good pre-emergent herbicide is made from corn gluten meal. Corn gluten meal is often sold in feed stores as a byproduct of the corn-milling process. It is added to livestock feed to increase the protein content of the feed . The product is available as a powder or in pellet form. Corn gluten pellets are easier to apply to a lawn and work just as well as powder.

3. Apply corn gluten pellets at a rate of 20 lbs. per 1,000 feet of soil. Shovel the product onto your lawn, and spread it with a rake over your soil.

4. Water your lawn with a garden hose and a hose end sprinkler to dissolve the pellets and activate the corn gluten meal.

Tips & Warnings

• You only need to apply corn gluten meal once every six months. The product will remain in the soil and block seed germination for the entire time.

References

• Iowa State University Extension: Ask the ISU Extension Garden Experts -- Crabgrass, Potatoes and Lilacs
• Colorado State University Extension: Phosphate Fertilizers and Water Pollution
• Ohio State University Extension: Annual Grass Weed Control in Home Lawns
• Auburn University: Crabgrass as a Forage Crop
• University of Minnesota Extension: Corn Gluten Meal -- A Natural Pre-Emergence Herbicide

Resources

• Clemson University Extension: Managing Weeds in Fescue Lawns