(MN, USA Zone 4) I’ve never had any issues with weeds in my backyard, so I’m not sure how this happened! We seeded with clover this past spring and it was just starting to come in when crabgrass appeared and totally took over. I’m reading that it’s an annual and will die off in the winter, but I’m skeptical since it’s so dense. What should I do? I hate using chemicals but can’t pull all of this by hand.
by MegMegMeggieMeg
6 Comments
Photo depicts attempted clover lawn in Minnesota with an aggressive crabgrass situation.
Cover the whole lawn in cardboard with a layer of compost or topsoil over the top, then sow native carpeting plants on top of that.
The cardboard will eventually break down and become part of the soil but it will provide a barrier for long enough to smother the crabgrass and kill it off.
I would just leave it. I see people saying to sow carpeting natives….good luck with that. You’re going to have mud or cardboard for a long time. I love your beds and the stone. Your yard looks very nice to me. I personally don’t see no lawn as meaning to pull up every inch of grass; especially if it’s contained and you aren’t trying to maintain it with pesticides. Cut it short and let the crab grass be. Keep sowing natives in small areas and over time it will take.
Yes use crabgrass preventer. You can get a more selective one that targets crabgrass and leaves clover relatively unscathed.
https://www.reddit.com/r/gardening/comments/1l9tch/how_to_kill_crab_grass_without_killing_clover/
Crabgrass is a warm season grass so won’t come up until late summer usually.
You can try spot treating with herbicide if you don’t want to start over entirely.
It’s an annual that will die off, but if you let it go to seed, it will come back.
You might think this is crazy, but I would try hand weeding before trying anything else. I have successfully managed crabgrass by pulling anything that looks like crabgrass as soon as it sprouts. I’m sure that I’ve inadvertently pulled some meadow or orchard grasses and some sedges, but at least the crabgrass is controlled. Hand weeding also lets me leave behind the natives growing in my lawn like strawberries and violets. I’ve also added clover even though it’s not native, because it’s good for my yard.
Because it grows close to the ground, crab grass can be a little tricky to remove. You can use rake to raise it up and separate it from the grass, and then pull the entire plant. Easier to do after watering or rain, which softens up the turf. Sometimes I use a small screwdriver, stick it next to the root, and move it in a circe around the root to loosen up the entire plant.
Pull it all now. There are probably some seeds still in the soil and you’ll keep getting crabgrass for a few years, but it will the less and less and, after a couple years, it will be rare.