Crabgrass

[Dave in The Ozarks]

I understand that Crabgrass Preventives are supposed to be applied in early Spring and that they work by sealing the soil surface so that the seeds don't germinate.

I live in the SW corner of Missouri. My lawn is a mix of fescue/bluegrass/rye. I applied Scotts with Halts in the spring. No crabgrass had come up until the last 2 or 3 weeks - Now there is quite a lot of it. Now I'm applying Weed B Gone crabgrass killer to it, but that weems to really weaken and even thin the other grass.

Can pre-emergent like Scott w/Halts be applied later in the season? If I applied it in early June would it prevent emergence in June and July?

Thanks, Dave in the Ozarks

[Moparholic]

Yes, but root pruning (stunted turf) usually occurs.

[John N.]

I've gotten into the habit of applying two applications of pre-emergent. One in early spring and another in early June. Seems to work OK, but not great. I don't think you'd hurt anything by applying now. I would think some seed is still ungerminated and would be effected by this app, but I'm certainly no expert.