It always comes back way faster than the grass, only in the area pictured.. looks terrible just a couple days after mowing. Wondering how I can get rid of it, without killing the grass it’s intermixed with. Any ideas?
For the record, haven’t done much in the way of chemicals/treatment yet, so open to any advice..
by gambitbeats
32 Comments
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Besides pulling it by hand, I don’t think there’s much you could do to get rid of it this season. I had a similar problem years ago and I applied crabgrass preventer in early spring before the seeds sprouted, and never had it again !
Tenacity
That’s a small amount all done in a hard days work. Hand pull. Get drunk to reward yourself.
I spray weekly until it’s mostly under control, then spray every two weeks. I need to spray less and less as I go. New strategy this year, seems to be working so far.
I’ve seen crab grass in more yards this year than I ever have. I was wondering if one of the yard services has been spreading crab grass seeds to get business.
As others have said, hand pull. I had a shit ton in my front yard last year which migrated from my neighbors crabgrass farm. I’d go out after dinner every night and hand pull. You can kill it with tenacity but that can also effect other grass species. Hand pull it all this year then next spring spray prodiamine, helps a lot.
Get a shovel to get as much of the root as possible . You will likely rip up that section of the lawn so you will need to reseed. You may need to do this two years in a row. Worked for me.
I would spray with Drive XLR8 to kill what’s there, then you need to start using a Dimension-based pre-emergent in the spring and mid-summer.
I was lucky, last year I had tons of it but yanked every one I saw all summer and haven’t seen another one this year at all… Now I just have damn dallisgrass I’m fighting like hell…
I suggest spraying with Lesco 4-Score Momentum or better yet, Q4 Plus
Ortho. Works great.
Prodiamine fert in late March/early April, then a Dimension fert six weeks later. Acclaim or Drive will start to kill the existing crab you have now.
I would normally recommend Pylex this time of the year. DriveXLR8 doesnt work too well in these later tiller phases. It would turn it purple and give it the appearance its dying, but wont actually die.
Pylex is super expensive, but a bottle will last like a decade for a yard this size lol.
A cheaper alternative is RoundUp Crabgrass Destroyer 2. It has the same AI as pylex and is super affordable. Its because its not a concentrate, so get a couple bottles. One should be enough for whats pictured tho.
Alternative, is just waiting til winter. It will die in the cold. Apply pre-emergent in the spring.
Quintessential (Quinclorac) will work wonders
Quinclorac to kill it. Prodiamine to bind its soul in the afterlife.
Quinclorac based killer. Should of put down dimension or promididine in the spring to prevent it.
Quinclorac will kill it…available as a concentrate if you DIY mix, or in an easy to spray hose bottle from Ortho, it will state for crabgrass. Caveat with Ortho is you’ll need 2, maybe 3 it’s because it’s a lower strength.
The concentrate works best with methylated seed oil as a surfactant as well.
Depending on your current temps, you might get away with something with Quinclorac to knock it out. But I tend to shy away from herbicides in July and August. It’s just too darn hot.
It’s July in the middle of summer. Either hand pull it or mow it.
Tenacity.
It’s technically a “natural” product. And it takes care of crab grass selectively.
Drive XLR8 will take care of it. That’s pretty mature…you may need to hit it once then again in about ten days. If you don’t want to use Drive, anything with *Quinclorac* will do the job.
Celsius WG will do the job. It will take a few applications this year but it should get most of it. Do pre emergents the fall and spring and use Celsius next summer for any that come back
I picked up a robot mower this year, and having something that mows every other day instead of every 1-2 weeks has been pretty effective at suppressing weeds.
I think that eventually the weeds expend all their energy reserves trying to “outgrow” the mower and just die. Either way, everything looks uniform when I glance out my window and that’s good enough for me.
I had some bad spots last year that look totally normal now. It’s only the very edges of my lawn, that the mower doesn’t hit, that see that kind of growth. It’s a very clear delineation of “managed vs unmanaged”.
The area in your picture would work great for a robot because it could ride *past* the lawn, up on the sidewalk. I’ve got a curb I’d rather not get stuck on, so there’s a 5 inch strip of ankle high grass that begins to form all along the street if I ignore trimming for too long.
That’s worse than crabgrass that’s Johnson grass
I’m gonna catch flack for this… but I use tenacity. 4 treatments per year. 2x spring 2 x fall
Image
It’s not crabgrass. It’s Johnson grass.
spot spray ranger pro then fertilizer and water so it can recover
Kill it with quinclorac or Kill off the area with gly. Overseed the living shit out of it. Hit w starter fert and water. Happy face
Quinclorac works pretty well
Treat in early spring and treat again 4 weeks later.