New crabgrass appears from mid-spring to midsummer. The key to crabgrass control is making sure the seeds cannot germinate. You can prevent crabgrass seeds from germinating in a number of ways. The best defense against crabgrass is a healthy lawn. Unwanted grasses and weeds simply can’t get the necessary toehold to thrive in a robust stand of grass.
Warmer spring temperatures bring your landscape to life. Unfortunately, tenacious crabgrass also comes to life. With a little preventative action, you’ll keep crabgrass from taking over your lawn. If crabgrass has already established itself, you can control and remove it from your lawn.
Crabgrass spreads quickly during the warm summer months. Between midsummer and early fall, each plant produces thousands of seeds. The first frost kills the plants, but the seeds remain dormant through the winter. When the ground temperature warms up, the seeds begin to grow.
New crabgrass appears from mid-spring to midsummer. The key to crabgrass control is making sure the seeds cannot germinate. You can prevent crabgrass seeds from germinating in a number of ways. Follow these basic lawn care guidelines to keep crabgrass from becoming a problem in your yard:
- Mow at frequent intervals to keep the grass a fairly consistent length. Check the recommended mowing heights for your type of grass and cut your lawn at the highest recommended setting. Crabgrass requires plenty of light to germinate, so keep the grass as thick and long as possible to create shade near the soil surface. Cutting your lawn too close produces patches where crabgrass and other weeds can germinate.
- Remove no more than one-third of the grass blade at one time when mowing. Removing more not only allows more light to reach weeds, it also can injure the grass.
- In an established lawn, water in long, heavy intervals rather than shallow, frequent ones. Watering on an irregular schedule and only when needed promotes deeper root growth that’s essential to healthy turfgrass. Remember that most established lawns require about one inch of water per week from rain or irrigation. If your lawn is newly-seeded, water in shallow, more frequent intervals until the grass gets established.
- Fertilize your grass at least once a year, following the package instructions.
If crabgrass has become established in your lawn, proper lawn maintenance alone may not be enough. The next best line of defense is against this annual weed is a pre-emergent herbicide (also called crabgrass preventer). You apply this product in the spring before the crabgrass seed sprouts. This granular herbicide works by creating a chemical barrier at the surface of the soil. As the seeds begin germination, they take in the herbicide and die. When applying the pre-emergent herbicide, always follow the manufacturer’s directions.