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- Senior Member
- Posts: 202
- Joined: Thu Feb 16, 2012 6:57 pm
- Location: South Glens Falls Ny,Zone 4B
I'd really like to get rid of the crabgrass...
last year it seemed it really took over my lawn, I hated it, I know its early in the year and I am going to put some chemical down this year to eliminate it, when is the proper time to put it down and just what can be used, I do fertlize, my soil is very sandy Years ago I use to call the green thumb people but that was way to expensive. I guess the fertlizer I used last year didn"t have any control in it cause it was bad, grass was green but once August hit out popped the crab grass.. I'd like to be organic but sometimes it doesn"t work that way..
crabgrass is an annual - so it sprouts from seed every year. it would be nice to just "get rid of this year's seed crop" but that's easier said than done.
as for the chemical approach - the EPA has eviscerated anything you can buy in the home stores. you need a license to buy "the effective stuff" - if you decide to go chemical on it, get a licensed lawn service, the home center stuff is imho completely ineffective.
some other approaches: rake any thing spots and re-seed, keep up with irrigating the lawn as needed - you may have noticed crab grass just goes wild when things get really hot & dry - the regular "grass" slacks off and the crab grass has free run.
you can also use corn gluten - it keeps seeds from sprouting - but it is non-discriminatory - I.e. all seeds, not just the crab grass. the trick is in the timing - get your new grass up and growing to keep the soil covered, then use the corn gluten to suppress more (unwanted) seeds from sprouting.
this is not an "instant fix" - it will take 2-3 years/seasons of attention but you can get rid of 99.99% of the stuff.
as for the chemical approach - the EPA has eviscerated anything you can buy in the home stores. you need a license to buy "the effective stuff" - if you decide to go chemical on it, get a licensed lawn service, the home center stuff is imho completely ineffective.
some other approaches: rake any thing spots and re-seed, keep up with irrigating the lawn as needed - you may have noticed crab grass just goes wild when things get really hot & dry - the regular "grass" slacks off and the crab grass has free run.
you can also use corn gluten - it keeps seeds from sprouting - but it is non-discriminatory - I.e. all seeds, not just the crab grass. the trick is in the timing - get your new grass up and growing to keep the soil covered, then use the corn gluten to suppress more (unwanted) seeds from sprouting.
this is not an "instant fix" - it will take 2-3 years/seasons of attention but you can get rid of 99.99% of the stuff.
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- Full Member
- Posts: 13
- Joined: Sat Jun 25, 2011 9:09 pm
- Location: Illinois