Need Help Getting Rid of Crabgrass in Our Lawn!! Any Ideas?

Set your lawn mower to cut as high as possible, taking into consideration healthy heights for your variety of turf grass. 2-3 inches is ideal for eliminating crabgrass, and most common species of turf grass will tolerate being kept at that height. Crabgrass can’t germinate in the shade, so keeping your lawn a little longer will ensure that the turf grass hoards the sunlight and stays healthy, while crabgrass languishes beneath it.

Limit your lawn to infrequent watering that goes 4-6 inches deep. If the ground is allowed to dry between waterings, shallow-rooted crabgrass will have trouble germinating. Deep watering also improves the health of turf grass by encouraging it to grow deeper root systems, which make it more resilient in less-than-perfect environmental conditions. And that, in turn, makes it better equipped to hold its own in a crabgrass invasion.

Overseed your lawn to thicken the turf grass and fill in any bare areas that could be taken over by opportunistic crabgrass. The best time to do this is early fall, because grass germinates more easily in warmish soil and, after the first frost, it won’t have to compete with crabgrass or a preemergent herbicide (see below) like it would in spring. Overseeding is a big job, involving a lot of mowing, raking, and watering, but it should be done every five years or so even if you don’t have a problem with crab grass. And if you do, overseeding is crucial to crabgrass prevention.

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You have to use a preemergent. At this point pull it by hand when able and do not let it go to seed. Start early in the spring.

There is one product that does weeds and crab grass. Can't recall the name, but it's just a weed control spray with crab grass control. I'd try that. The most important thing to do is to put down a good fertilizer with weed/crab grass control pre-emergent come Spring. I used WOW, an organic product, and this is the first year I've had no crab grass (i have clover for the first time, but that's easy to deal with). In fact, the previous three years I had my lawn professional done and had terrible crab grass!

you might want to get a few quotes from a service. We found it was cheaper for us to have a company come out and treat for crabgrass than it was for us to buy the treatment they sell for it. Plus the companies will come out for free and retreat if it does not work the first time. Good luck!

You need to pull all of the crabgrass, or it will keep spreading. If might leave some bare patches in your yard, but it will eventually fill back in, or you can put a little seed on the patches. Make sure that you get the whole root when you pull.

Hi N.,

All I know is that you need to spread the crab grass killer early spring around Late March early April. If you wait longer than that it won't work. If you find out a better method, please let me know.

The only way to truly get rid of crab grass is to dig it out (not pull it out), you have to get all the roots. Once it's removed, fill it with some good soil& Seeds/sod and it should be fine.

Good luck.

You have to use the crabgrass preventer and fertilizer in the spring -- we use the Scotts -- it's the best. My husband also said he uses a product called Spectracide crabgrass killer, (weed stop for lawns), in a spray bottle for the occasional patches of crabgrass. This seems to work, as we have the best looking lawn on the block according to our neighbors! Good luck.

Hi,
We swear by the SCOTT'S fertilizer and crabgrass preventer.
You have to use the fertilizer Turf builder with the haltz.
We start in the fall with the winterizer, and use all the steps they have. The person with the long explanation is correct about how it grows and how to get rid of it. Good grass "chokes" the crabgrass out and keeps it from growing. We have found the hard way, Scotts is the only one that works!
We were laxed on it this year and are getting some (2 patches), but not much. We have tried many other brands, but this is the only one that works (at least that we have found). But you have to make sure you keep up with all the steps and you will have a beautiful lawn. We do not try any others, because it works and if it not broken, we are not changing:-) Good luck! It is a long process, but starting now will get you off to a good start for a crabgrass free lawn next year!