Question
With spring here, I am starting to figure out what to do with my lawn.  Crabgrass is starting to sprout up and I want to go all organic.  What can I use to kill it?  I saw in someone's answers that they used sugar - about 4-5 lbs per 1000 sq. feet.  Would you know how often can I/should I use that?  Also, any other advice for a green, healthy, organic lawn on Long Island?

Answer
The worst thing about Crabgrass is the way it seeds all over the place.

There are two kinds of Crabgrass in this country: 'Big Crabgrass' (Digitaria sanguinalis) and 'Little Crabgrass' (Digitaria ischaemum).  One single Big Crabgrass plant growing in your Lawn will produce 150,000 seeds before the end of the season.  Many of them will be dormant and viable for several years.  That means you simply cannot control Crabgrass in a single growing season.  You can, however, make progress.

A good Weed management program focuses on prevention.  You want to halt seed production.  You want to keep seeds that are already there from germinating.

Many people will tell you to put down pre-emergents.  But you need a pre-emergent that will not wipe out microbes in the soil that keep your Grass healthy and thriving.  Corn Gluten Meal is just what the doctor ordered.  It has to be put down in the early Spring, very soon, RIGHT ON SCHEDULE, the week that Forsythias begin to bloom in your area.  Look around.  Check every morning as you get in the car on your way to work.  And order it asap so it is right there in the garage or the tool shed waiting for you to sprinkle it down.

By the way, do you have a spreader?  Get one now. Those Weeds won't wait.

The best thing about this is that after you put down CGM, you won't have to worry about fertilizing for the rest of the season.  Because the CGM will decompose into slow-release, all natural Nitrogen all Summer long.

Do you have a Lawnmower?  A push Lawnmower is perfect for Grass.  You can order one on the internet from Clean Air Gardening and other websites.  Keep the clippings on the Grass that you mow and make sure you set the unit to the correct height for your Grass.  Regular mowing and watering will keep the standing Grass happy, as well as the Earthworms underground.  Which is really important.

The 'Sugar System' rears its head from time to time.  I'll tell you, if Sugar was going to kill Weeds, we'd all be out there with it.  If Sugar was going to feed your Grass, I'd be out there with it.  If Sugar was going to feed Microbes, they'd be giving a Nobel Prize for Science for it.  There is absolutely, positively, undeniably ZERO evidence that sprinkled Sugar will do anything except glaze your Lawn.  If you want to serve glaceed Bluegrass or Fescue at your next BBQ, go ahead, otherwise it's an expensive thing to do to microbes and it may cause in them a Sugar crash, not to mention overweight Bacteria and hypoglycemia in the Earthworm population.

I'll tell you my theory on how Sugar works.

Ever notice how people who don't pay any attention to their Lawn seem to have pretty healthy Grass?

I mean, there are Weeds all over the place, but you don't see any symptoms of Grubs, or Fungus, or any other problem.  They mow now and then, and the Grass grows, and life goes on.

Now, if those people sprinkled Sugar on their Grass, you could say that the Sugar was the reason their Lawn is fairly healthy.

Next door, the neighbors who are putting Nitrogen fertilizer down every month and pre-emergents and 2,4-D and all this other stuff are decimating the microorganisms in their Soil, not to mention the Earthworms and the bugs and the various other fauna that live down there controlling pathogens.  All the local Birds avoid it like the plague.  They like to hang out at the house with the Sugar.  It's a lot safer.  They devour the Weed Seeds, they gobble up the Grubs, they have a pretty good time and they like it there a lot.  So the house with the Sugar is doing well, and the house with the treatments is suffering a major breakdown the moment you skip one of those chemical things.

The Sugar is not a magic wand.  If you used pink colored Water, the results would be the same.  Because it is not hard to grow Grass.  It is easy however to traumatize the Soil and wreck the Soil structure; someone who just does not do those things is ahead of the game.

Back to 21st century Lawn Care.

If there's one thing you should be very careful of this year, it's going to be your MOWING schedule.  Mowing correctly is one key to getting rid of Weeds.  For two reasons.

First, you get stronger Grass with deeper roots if you Mow correctly.

Second, you get weaker Weeds with few or no Seeds if you Mow correctly.

Mowing is VERY VERY IMPORTANT.

That means you have to Mow 2 or even 3 times a week when your Grass is growing actively.  Cool Season Grass grows fastest in the Spring and the Fall.

Mowing HIGH is important because the length of the roots is determined by the height of the Grass.  If you mow at 2 1/2 inches, the roots will grow 2 1/2 inches long.  If you pay someone else to do the Mowing, go out and measure the length of the Grass BEFORE and AFTER.  Make sure the Grass is not being scalped (this will ruin a Lawn the first time it's done; the Grass never recovers).  And make sure the Grass is still fairly long after being mowed.

Landscapers tend to over-mow because they know they won't be buy for another week, so they think the Lawn will look better if it's mowed low.  Be prepared to deal with that if you are paying someone else to do this task.

Thanks for writing.  Any questions?