I seed my yard twice a year as I'm suppose to, I also water and fertilize as directed. Lately I'm noticing the grass blades in some areas are no longer the nice tall thin blades, but more to the short fat blades. I'm concerned because A: it doesn't look nice and B: I'm hoping its not some sort of weed growing. Can anyone offer me some advise?
If it is a light green grass, it is probably crabgrass. It's important to use a liquid crabgrass killer now before the weed drops its seeds. Those seeds will sprout next year, so use a pre-emergent crabgrass killer in the early spring, too.
Peter Pan wrote:
Sorry. I can't tell you what happens when you mix these things. I use the liquid crabgrass killer in a pump sprayer so I can walk around and be very selective about the application. Three applications are needed about 7 to 10 days apart.
Peter Pan wrote:
Where are these blades located? All over the lawn? Most likley its fescue or quack, around the edges most likley crab.
Which liquid crabgrass killer do you use?
-jav
I seed my yard twice a year as I'm suppose to,
Say what? A lawn is normally seeded once to get it established. Then, it may need some spot seeding, maybe once every couple years to repair areas damaged by insect or disease. But if you have to seed it twice every year something is very wrong.
I also water and fertilize as directed.
Directed by whom? Someone from the local agri service or someone from a company that wants to sell N step fertilizer?
Lately I'm noticing the grass blades in some areas are no longer the nice tall thin blades, but more to the short fat blades. I'm concerned because A: it doesn't look nice and B: I'm hoping its not some sort of weed growing. Can anyone offer me some advise?
How do you expect anyone to be able to answer this without knowing what kind of grass you have or where you are located? Without at least a picture, it's just about impossible to tell you what you have. And it's important to get it right, because the solution depends entirely on what exactly you have.
A pic would be *most* helpful.
If it's fescue, I can't understand why you'd want to get rid of it. Besides, you most likely planted it. But, you haven't stated *what* seeds you planted. Looking for something to spray all over your lawn without having a *positive* ID on the plant, is just plain rediculous.
Again, a pic is really needed.
the 1010 pic looks like st augustine. what part of the country are you in?
A trace says New Jersey. Pic's not 100% clear, but looks like crabgrass, to me.
Yes I'm in New Jersey
it is crabgrass. or what we call crapgrass. it's an ugly undesirable type of weed and can quickly ruin a lawn.
So what do I need to put on it to stop it from taking over the rest of my yard?
It's an annual. It will die when it gets cool. You could go to the trouble of treating it, which will take a couple weeks. Then you'll have this nice, yellow/brown crap all over your yard for a few weeks until it would have died anyway.
Next spring, put down a good pre-emergent for it.
how much physical labor are you willing to apply in order to have a nice green lawn?
the reason I ask is because there are several approaches to control and eradication.
eradicate verb transitive
1: to pull up by the rootsif you end up making the choice to use a selective herbicide at this stage of the growth shown in your pictures, you'll end up with one ugly lawn. the treated crabgrass will first go yellow and then go brown. then, after the crabgrass is dead you'll have a bare spot for awhile since most selective herbicides used on fescue retard the growth and spreading of the fescue.
if you work your fingers under the crabgrass you'll find several runners all going back to the same root source. after several mowings of crabgrass the runners will put down roots of their own. if the runners have not put down roots pulling the source root is not all that difficult. takes some time. wet the ground and it will be somewhat easier.
if all the above seems to be the incorrect choice for you. do an over seeding with fescue seed in the early fall when you notice the HOT weather crabgrass beginning to go DORMANT. pamper your new seed with some starter fertilizer and adequate water. in the very next spring before your air temps get high enough to bring the crabgrass out of it's DORMANCY, as well as sprout all the seeds it made and dropped into your lawn, apply a good quality at the correct quantity of a pre-emergent designated for crabgrass.
good lawn care is always filled with choices.
I agree that at least some of it looks like crabgrass, though I'm not sure it's all crabgrass. There may be some other weed type grass there as well. Af riend of mine has a rough blade type grass growing here in NJ that goes from brown to green this time of year. And whatever it is, it's not crabgrass.
I agree with Jim, if you kill it now, it will look bad for a few weeks as the crabgrass dies. The optimum time to kill any crabgrass that escaped pre-emergent treatment was a few weeks ago, when the plants were still small and easier to kill.
On the other hand, leaving it there, it will continue to grow, still look pretty bad and choke out desirable grass until first frost. So, it's a mixed bag as to what to do.
Acclaim is effective and what I use, but at this point you will need 2 treatments to kill it. Also, don't apply any herbicide when it 85+ out or the grass is stressed from lack of water.
I agree with others, re crabgrass, with maybe some other coarse fescues. I wish my crabgrass/fescue/clover/weed lawn looked as nice and green as yours. If I were to kill the crabgrass & clover now, what little green I have would be gone.
David in MD
Pre-emergent neeeds to be applied before there are any plants, in the spring.
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