Crabgrass

[DaveC]

How can one kill rooted crabgrass this late in the year without killing everything else around it? Thanks.

[Steveo]

In your lawn?

[Donald Guzzetta]

You can use Roundup to kill the crabgrass the trick is in applying it. You can get a pair of rubber gloves and put a pair of cloth gloves over them. Then moisten the glove with roundup mixture. carefully apply the roundup to the grabgrass by grabbing the shoots of the plant, be carefull not to touch the anything you want to live!

[Peter]

Why not just pull the crabgrass up by the roots. It works effectively for me. In my lawn.

[DaveC]

I guess I am stuck until next year then, using a pre-emergent? It is the entire backyard of a new house, plant by plant is way to much. The builder let it get wild and also seeded bluegrass and fescue. I hate to till the whole thing and start over, it's about a 1/4 of an acre. I was hoping something was out there to get the crabgrass.

[Steveo]

[RoyDMercer]

The type of grass you have does not tolerate a selective crabgrass herbicide like CSMA or MSMA. Pre-emergent is your best bet. Crabgrass is an annual and has to come back by seed.

[Steveo]

What does tolerate it?

[Chet Hayes]

Acclaim is the best product I've found, though you need a license to buy it. Very effective, kills the crabgrass and leaves the lawn unharmed. The over the counter ones I've tried were poor at killing the crabgrass and harmed the good grass.

[William W. Plummer]

I use "Crabgrass Killer". It is specific to crabgrass and does not affect normal grass. It takes 2 or 3 applications, a week apart. It works very well, but I also use preemergent kill in the spring.

[dicko]

Nobody's mentioned the other way to get rid of crabgrass. That's to encourage the good grass to grow and choke out the crabgrass. So rather than spending money on killing the crabgrass, spend the money on getting the good grass to grow.

I believe the original poster said it was a new lawn. Just fertilize and water and do everything to encourage the new grass to get good and thick this year. Next year, instead of putting down a pre-emergent herbicide, which incidently will prohibit you from putting down any good grass seed, just look at all the thin spots, lay down some grass seed and repeat the process.

It will take awhile, a few years maybe, but in the end you'll have a good looking lawn.

BTW, the time to put down a post emergent crabgrass killer is when the seedlings are real little. By the time you can see the crabgrass shoots in your lawn its too late and the crabgrass is too established to get rid of it. That of course means that most homeowners apply it way too late in the season to do much good. It should be applied before you even know you have a crabgrass problem.

Also, almost all of the post emergent stuff contains arsenic which I'm not too keen on spreading all over my yard. Look at the ruckous raised over CCA treated lumber and arsenic leeching from it and now you want to purposely spread it over your yard?

If you do decide to go with a pre-emergent next spring, look at any of the products containing corn gluten. its a natural product and actually decomposes and fertilizes the lawn at the same time. But be aware you wont be able to put down any new seed, so if your trying to establish a new lawn, I'd wait on applying the pre-emergent killer and through seeding and fertilizing, thicken up the lawn. That should naturally choke out the crabgrass.

I'm not adovcating a total chemical free weed control program. I'm probalby the first to reach for a broadleaf weed killer when the need arises. But the post emergent crabgrass killers werent very effective when I tried them and I got much better results by just encouraging the good grass to grow and choke everything else out.

When I bought my house the lawn had been totally neglected for years and crabgrass was everywhere. Just by fertilizing and reseeding, the next year the crabgrass was markedly reduced and by the third year was totally gone. What little did appear was an easy matter of just pulling it up while mowing the lawn.

dickm

[William W. Plummer]

Corn gluten is expensive.

[Peter H]

I'll second Chet's recommendation here. There was a time when you had to do crab applications in the spring. I've had great results w/ Acclaim in the summer and little or no damage to the lawn.

Peter H

[Chet Hayes]

It's impossible to encourage a new lawn that is being taken over by crabgrass to grow and choke out the crabgrass. Watering and fertilizer at this point will just make the opposite happen, with the crabgrass choking out the grass. I agree that maintaining a thick healthy lawn is the first and most important step at keeping crabgrass out, but it won't get rid of it this year when it's already there and killing off the new lawn.

Next year, instead of putting down a pre-emergent

There are pre-emergents available that can safely be used on recently seeded lawns. But re-seeding should be done in the fall anyway. Based on what I've heard so far, his best bet is to get a professional in to kill the crabgrass now with Acclaim, save the lawn, and avoid having to re-seed.

It will take awhile, a few years maybe, but in the end you'll have a

Good reasons to use Acclaim, it will kill even mature crabgrass effectively, and doesn;t contain arsenic.

Given a choice of 3 years of looking at crabgrass and the trouble and expense of reseeding, I'd go with the Acclaim.

[DaveC]

Can acclaim be purchased by a DIY'r?

[Barfin' Bob]

bermudagrass tolerates it quite well, thank you

[Steveo]

So you missed the part where he said blue and fescue, you're welcome.

[Barfin' Bob]

Yeah, missed that part. That's what happens when one gets old.

[William W. Plummer]

Bonide makes the Crabgrass Killer. A pint costs about $13, but you use only a capful per gallon. Do it now before the plants drop their seeds

-- approximately 500 to 1000 per plant.

[Heidi the Horrible]

I went for a jog on the local golf course and their crabgrass was dying so they sprayed it with something. I didn't notice if it was growing in with bermuda or fescue.