crabgrass issue

corvairbob

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last year i posted about the grass i had n my yard. the group decided it was crabgrass. but being it was late in the year i did not bother just killing the yard off to fix it and it was to late to put anything on it.

so now that it is about time to put fertilizer on the yard tell me will weed and feed remove the crab grass and then let the remaining grass fill in the open areas that remain. i see lowe's has a few types of weed and feed fertilizers now ready for spring and they have on the they call weed and crabgrass control. but being i have crabgrass now does anyone know if these will work?

i'm not really wanting to just plain kill the grass back to dirt and then have to reseed all over, if that is the only way to remedy this then i guess i have crabgrass. but i have to ask just in case using the fertilizer and crabgrass preventer or the weed and feed type will cause the crabgrass to go away and let the grass left fill in? thanks bp
 

Darryl G

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Crabgrass is an annual that comes back from seeds from the prior season. If you're seeing it now I don't think it's crabgrass. You need to use a pre-emergent to prevent it from germinating. Timing is important. In my experience when the Pussy Willows start blooming is about the right time.
 

corvairbob

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Crabgrass is an annual that comes back from seeds from the prior season. If you're seeing it now I don't think it's crabgrass. You need to use a pre-emergent to prevent it from germinating. Timing is important. In my experience when the Pussy Willows start blooming is about the right time.

i don't think i see it now what i need to find out is if i did have crabgrass will the weed and feed stop it or the crabgrass preventer stop it from returning this year. i posted tons of pictures last year and the consensus was that i had crabgrass. so far this year after the snow it grass is now what brown! i too pictures and if i can get them posted maybe you can tell?

what i would like to do is stop it before it starts. but if it is there only dormant then i will put up with it as i'm not poisoning the yard and making it all dirt to kill off grass. but if the weed and feed can stop it this year i will try it if not no sense wasting money and time for doing what will not work. thanks

1st 4 are the back yard the last 2 are the front yard

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tom3

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My dad used to say if it's green it's good. I'd settle for your yard right now. My yard is being taken over by some creeping weed stuff, creeping Jenny/Charlie or something. But good weed and feed from a drop spreader applied right will knock out the broadleaf crab grass and not really hurt the regular blade grass, and this early in the season will really make it look nice.
 

corvairbob

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thanks i kind of lean towards your dad saying as well. i have neighbors giving me hell because i have this type starting in front. one thing i can say is this grass whatever it is lays low to the ground stays some type of green and i do not have to mow it but maybe 5 times last year. so maybe i will get the weed and feed and know out anything that is not grass. and if this is grass of some type that is good it will jst keep going.

if you see the pictures you might see what i was talking about. thanks for the input. looks like i get some weed and feed now and apply it now and let the rains work it into the ground. maybe it will take the dandy out this year. again thanks
 

Darryl G

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Ok. The thing to do with Crabgrass is to prevent it from sprouting with a per-emergent herbicide around mid spring, when shrubs are blooming and trees are budding - something with a Crabgrass preventer. Any Crabgrass from last year is already dead. Once it takes hold it's generally too late to do anything but hit it with a liquid and for practical reasons that's usually just for spot applications.

A healthy stand of turf is the key to keeping weeds and Crabgrass away, as well as proper fertilization, irrigation and cutting at the proper height etc. You want conditions suitable to grow grass, not weeds and crabgrass. Cutting your lawn too short is a great way to encourage Crabgrass. People with crappy lawns tend to cut them too short because it looks better than leggy spotty growth, but that just perpetuates the cycle.

Weed and feed products are generally for broadleaf weed control, although some may have a Crabgrass preventer too.

But yes, if your lawn is mostly weeds and crabgrass, all you'll have left is dirt and spring isn't the time to try to renovate a lawn, fall is. I go through this every year...my customers want me to re-seed their lawn in the spring because that's when it looks the worst with all of the dead Crabgrass and bare patches. But unless the house is on the market and you need it to look green for a while or the lawn is irrigated it's just a waste of money. Chances are that it won't make it through the summer. Then fall comes around and it's green from the weeds and Crabgrass so they decline doing anything about it, again. I go through this EVERY YEAR with the same customers!
 

corvairbob

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Ok. The thing to do with Crabgrass is to prevent it from sprouting with a per-emergent herbicide around mid spring, when shrubs are blooming and trees are budding - something with a Crabgrass preventer. Any Crabgrass from last year is already dead. Once it takes hold it's generally too late to do anything but hit it with a liquid and for practical reasons that's usually just for spot applications.

A healthy stand of turf is the key to keeping weeds and Crabgrass away, as well as proper fertilization, irrigation and cutting at the proper height etc. You want conditions suitable to grow grass, not weeds and crabgrass. Cutting your lawn too short is a great way to encourage Crabgrass. People with crappy lawns tend to cut them too short because it looks better than leggy spotty growth, but that just perpetuates the cycle.

Weed and feed products are generally for broadleaf weed control, although some may have a Crabgrass preventer too.

But yes, if your lawn is mostly weeds and crabgrass, all you'll have left is dirt and spring isn't the time to try to renovate a lawn, fall is. I go through this every year...my customers want me to re-seed their lawn in the spring because that's when it looks the worst with all of the dead Crabgrass and bare patches. But unless the house is on the market and you need it to look green for a while or the lawn is irrigated it's just a waste of money. Chances are that it won't make it through the summer. Then fall comes around and it's green from the weeds and Crabgrass so they decline doing anything about it, again. I go through this EVERY YEAR with the same customers!

thanks darryl what is strange is i water 3 to 4 time a week for 1/2 hour per zone and i have put out pans to make sure i'm getting plenty of water. also i cut my grass at about 4" down to 3" sometimes i even let it got long enough to show seed. i had no bare spots in my yard and then last year like magic i got this different grass. i took pictures and last year they all told me it was crabgrass. and that is was too late to do anything about it. so like your saying i did what should be done for a good lawn. the grass looks different than it used to and i have no clue what is is. it doesn't grow tall like it did before it stays close to the ground to the point that last year i cut it like 4 or 5 times. it just did not grow tall. the grass was not single chutes like you see in pictures but it was forked and had multiple chutes form the ground. so i think i should get the fertilized and crab grass preventer and use that instead of the weed and feed. if that take the this so called crabgrass away then next year or later this year i can then use weed and feed. is that about correct? thanks
 

Darryl G

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I just checked your old thread and yeah, looks like Crabgrass to me too.
 

corvairbob

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I just checked your old thread and yeah, looks like Crabgrass to me too.

thanks darryl i have no idea where it came from as it spread like over night. so i will get some crabgrass crabgrass preventer from lowes this week and put it down next week. we have buds starting now and i have tulips and glads coming out of the ground.

lowes has the bags for 4,000' sq' coverage now they call it sta-green crab-ex plus. it is a fertilizer and crabgrass preventer in one bag. then what do you thin about putting down the weed and feed in a month or 2 or will it be to late for the weed and feed then thanks
 

Darryl G

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Sounds good. 4 weeks might be little soon. 6 weeks is usually about right in my area.
 
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