Question
new grass put in (sod)2 years, crabgrass bad 6x9 try to kill it with fertilizer did not work.A pro killed it with round up and put in new sod.2 years(2008)came back same size 6x9.some one said round up,dig dirt out,round up ,new and good soil and sod.Im doing it my self this time!

Answer
Crabgrass, sir, should never be a long term problem.

Reason: It's usually an Annual plant.

By definition, Crabgrass DIES at the end of the year.  The key to getting it out of your life is that you DO NOT LET CRABGRASS SET SEED.

Not completely, because Crabgrass is one of the sneakiest Weeds around.  Crabgrass Seeds sit dormant until they抮e good and ready to
grow.  Some sprout now.  Some sprout later.  And some sprout in 5 or 10 years.

In your case, they seem to sprout all the time.  They must like you.

Lewis, the answer here does NOT lie in Superfund Chemicals that brag about how 慼armless?they are -- you won抰 use them just once, you抣l be using them over and over and over.

Besides, it抯 completely unnecessary.  Remember that as you stare at them in the morning -- a few weeks from now, they could be gone forever, and IF you don抰 give Crabgrass a chance to MAKE Seeds (because you keep mowing the tops off), IF you don't let any dormant Seeds germinate, your Weed problems will be over.

How do you keep them from germinating?

Since we know that dormant Weed Seeds are almost always lurking invisibly in the Soil, we can zap them with a few bags every Spring of Corn Gluten Meal.

Corn Gluten Meal?

Yep.  This is a non-toxic (to people and their friends) pre-emergent Spring herbicide that keeps Seeds from germinating.

As CGM decomposes, it generates Nitrogen.  So it is perfect for your
Grass.

It's nothing fancy.  Just plain, ordinary, common stuff used by farmers for farm-related chores like feeding the horses.  Researchers at Iowa State about 15 years ago, completely by accidental, stumbled on this side effect of Cornmeal Gluten while studying safe ways to store Corn.  Corn storage is a big deal out in Iowa.

Someone noticed in the middle of all this research that nothing was germinating around the Cornmeal Gluten.  It wouldn抰 actually kill anything that was already growing.  But it interrupted the germination of any Seed that was planted there.   When they looked further, they found it would stop all the new Seed embryos from 慼atching?into plants.

And when the researchers realized how handy this could be, they took out a patent on it right away to make some money on it.

And they licensed it out.

Scotts and Monsanto did not line up to become customers, but lots of smaller companies did.  If you would like to narrow down your location with a zipcode, I will tell you which one of those licensees has a product in your local garden center or Walmart, and what they call their version of this Weedkiller.  I promise not to knock on your door and sell you anything.

Corn Gluten Meal applied THIS Spring will stop new Weeds from growing THIS year!

That's just a few weeks from now, my friend.  DO NOT MISS THIS DEADLINE!

Over the Summer, you grow Cover Crops, build up your Soil, and get a big, fat, juicy Soil Test that will generate all kinds of data about your Soil.  Based on that test (which is going to cost about as much as a bottle of RoundUp), you can add stuff to turn your outside dirt into nutrient-rich loam for the best Grass in town.

Which would be planted in the Fall.

Yes, it's a long way off.  I hate when this happens.  But this is the right way to do it.  I'd love to tell you how to speed it up, but some things have to be done the old fashioned way.

Weigh in with your zipcode and County and I抣l send you the specs.  And a place to get your Soil tested that will not break the bank and will tell you what's in that Soil of yours, what it doesn't need, and what's missing.  rsvp!  Pleased to meet you, sir.