Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Garden
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 09-12-2016, 04:28 PM
 
Location: D.C.
2,867 posts, read 3,510,605 times
Reputation: 4770

Advertisements

So this has been the first summer in our new (15 year old) home. When we bought it last fall, the grass season was pretty much over, but I could tell the yard was in rough shape. Brought it all back this spring to a nice, lush, green lawn with the help of some Caravan G, Alfalfa Meal, Soybean Meal, and a few bags of fescue.


Was doing great, until crabgrass showed up in the front. I've been plucking it out with a weed puller for the past several weeks, but can't seem to get ahead of it (spreading like crazy). I'm to the point where if I pluck anymore out, I'm basically going to have a few bare dirt areas. I need to go the chemical route.


I tried the Ortho ready spray stuff about a month ago (kind you attach to the hose). I thought it was working, killed off some of it, but this past weekend I came to the realization that it did nothing. I pulled probably another 30 blooms of that stuff out of the front (big yard).


Has anyone used this Drive XLR8 before? I understand it's professional-grade, which I'm fine with (so is the Caravan G I use). But before I pony up for it and go through the hassle, was hoping to hear some feedback from others who might've tried it before? Don't really want to kill off the grass itself, just the crabgrass and any other weed (creeping charlies, etc.).


We're going to have the lawn aerated and over-seeded this fall too, but wanted to get the crabgrass killed off before hand. I've learned my lesson for the need to hit it again in the spring with a pre-emergent (didn't do that this year, didn't realize I'd need it so badly).


Thanks!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 09-13-2016, 07:01 AM
 
3,886 posts, read 3,463,972 times
Reputation: 5287
Mowing too low also contributes to crab grass growth. Healthy grass, mowed 3" high, watered properly (no more than once a week, deeply, one inch water) will crowd out crabgrass.

Since crabgrass is an annual, the stuff you have now will die naturally as the weather cools. So no need to kill it before your lawn work.

All this assumes you have cool season grass. Don't know about grass in the south.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-13-2016, 01:56 PM
 
15,693 posts, read 20,211,420 times
Reputation: 20859
Depending on where you live, crabgrass will soon start to die off. What I'd probably do now is before aerating and overseeding, mow down low and bag the clippings (where the CG is). Then aerate and overseed. Try and get a nice thick cover before winter sets in, so that next fall you can get a good start.


In the spring, go with a preemergent, and set your mower blade up high through the summer. The taller grass will crowd out weeds/crabgrass and should prevent them from appearing in August.


Then repeat as needed. Eventually, increased, dense growth of the grass you want should block out any opportunity for any weeds to take hold. May take a few years, but with a good spring preemergent, followed by some heavy overseeding in the fall, shouldn't take too long.

Last edited by BostonMike7; 09-13-2016 at 02:08 PM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-13-2016, 02:58 PM
 
7,428 posts, read 7,024,572 times
Reputation: 2770
Agree.
At this point in the season, let it go. Use a pre-emergent next spring and follow up again on 90 days if need be.



Quote:
Originally Posted by BostonMike7 View Post
Depending on where you live, crabgrass will soon start to die off. What I'd probably do now is before aerating and overseeding, mow down low and bag the clippings (where the CG is). Then aerate and overseed. Try and get a nice thick cover before winter sets in, so that next fall you can get a good start.


In the spring, go with a preemergent, and set your mower blade up high through the summer. The taller grass will crowd out weeds/crabgrass and should prevent them from appearing in August.


Then repeat as needed. Eventually, increased, dense growth of the grass you want should block out any opportunity for any weeds to take hold. May take a few years, but with a good spring preemergent, followed by some heavy overseeding in the fall, shouldn't take too long.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-14-2016, 10:38 AM
 
Location: D.C.
2,867 posts, read 3,510,605 times
Reputation: 4770
Thanks all! Reston, you and I live in the same area I believe, so you know the heat wave we'd had here for the past several weeks (DC).


I'm a little confused on the recommendation though. Are you guys saying the crab grass that is there now will completely die over the winter? Or is it just going dormant like the rest of the lawn, only to return in the spring at the places that it's at now? Would be great if I didn't have to spray the yard (one less thing to do), but also want to take this time of year to make sure everything that is wrong with the lawn now doesn't come back in March. I probably have close to 200 plugs of crabgrass and weeds around the yard now.


Thanks!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-14-2016, 11:20 AM
 
15,693 posts, read 20,211,420 times
Reputation: 20859
Crag grass is an annual grass. Once it goes to seed in the fall, it dies. It does not survive the winter. So those 200 plugs or so of CG will be dead soon and won't grow back.


What will grow back are the seeds they drop now. Ways to prevent that are a good preemergent in the springtime, as well as getting your good grass to grow dense enough that the crab grass simply cannot take hold. A nice thick lawn crowds out weeds and will prevent growth.


Right now, your primary focus should be to overseed heavily in the areas where the CG is most prominent, and get that new grass to grow in nice and thick before winter. Then, next spring when it returns, it can continue to grown and crowd the CG out, which won't start germinating until soil temps hit around 70 degrees. Combined with a good preemergent in the spring, that should help reduce the craggrass population
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-14-2016, 11:52 AM
 
7,428 posts, read 7,024,572 times
Reputation: 2770
Yes going to 94' today. Not the most ideal temperature for my grass seed .

As soon as we get our first Frost the crabgrass will begin to die off for the season, but it will return next spring if you don't pretreat for it.

If your lawn is predominately all weeds, my preference would have been a couple weeks ago to spray round Up on the entire thing and then reseed. Given our current current warm temps that is still an option. Then heavily reseed.

Quote:
Originally Posted by NC211 View Post
Thanks all! Reston, you and I live in the same area I believe, so you know the heat wave we'd had here for the past several weeks (DC).


I'm a little confused on the recommendation though. Are you guys saying the crab grass that is there now will completely die over the winter? Or is it just going dormant like the rest of the lawn, only to return in the spring at the places that it's at now? Would be great if I didn't have to spray the yard (one less thing to do), but also want to take this time of year to make sure everything that is wrong with the lawn now doesn't come back in March. I probably have close to 200 plugs of crabgrass and weeds around the yard now.


Thanks!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-14-2016, 12:12 PM
 
Location: D.C.
2,867 posts, read 3,510,605 times
Reputation: 4770
Ok, thanks to you both!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-15-2016, 10:29 AM
 
7,428 posts, read 7,024,572 times
Reputation: 2770
Here is some good information on crabgrass.

Purdue Turf Tips: Crabgrass is out in full force in 2016!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-15-2016, 12:36 PM
 
Location: D.C.
2,867 posts, read 3,510,605 times
Reputation: 4770
That's a great article, thanks for posting!!


So, considering the limited amount of time left this year to get ready for next year, do you think I should just not worry about the weeds in general and just focus on getting new grass down and growing? In terms of weeds, it's mostly crabgrass in general, but do have some clover and the like in the lawn too here and there. I can't tell if I have enough time to apply a herbicide to wipe out all the weeds AND get new seed down with fertilizer to be effective? I don't think my guy will come to aerate, overseed, and apply his starter fertilizer until October (wish he'd come sooner). I had tremendous success with the old house with tall fescue matched with the soybean and alfalfa meal doing it myself. Did that in the spring at the new house with great success as well. I'm hoping to do that myself again this fall, and then double-up with the aeration, overseed, and starter fertilizer as well in October.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Garden

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top