Question
I am trying to improve my lawn which has large batches of crab grass in some areas, moss in others and yet other parts are ok (not great but good compared to the rest of it). I am only interested in an organic approach and short of ripping everything out and starting again, how can I get rid of the crab grass and grow some nice weed free grass? Sounds like you have cracked the code on this and would love any and all advice you can give. Thanks!

Answer
Hi Chris.
Yeppers, an organic program will fix everything.
You don't need to rip everything out and start over. You can get on an organic program now, and in a couple of years, you will be amazed at the quality of your soil.Moss, as in a plant that is called moss, or oss as in grows in the ahdes, and not wanted?
If you have an area that has too much shade, prune out some tree or shrub branches to allow more sun to reach the grass, or if this is not possible, plant shade loving plants and ground covvers. There are a tonm of them.
All I have put on my lawn for 8 or 9 years now, is sugar.
Plain white sugar like you sweeten your tea with.
Sugar does nothing for anything except the beneficial microbes  that enrich your soil.
Fertilizers kill these microbes, as well as other beneficial insects that feed on harmful insects.
With no poison chemicals on your lawn, lizards, toads and other harmless critters will be attracted to make their home in your lawn, and they will eat all the rest of the harmful insects, and they stay out of your way.LOL
Bst growund crew you can get, and they work cheap.
Earthworms tunnel through your soil, and aerate it, and their droppings ) castings) add nutrients to the soil.
Fertilizers etc kill off these wonderful creatures.
I had crabgrass too, and it is a doozie of a pest.
But it is a weed, and weeds like poor soil, and will not thrive in rich soil, so make rich soil, and weeds will not be a problem.
I use baking soda for fungus.
Disolve 1 rounded Tablespoonful per gallon of water and spray the area where you have mosses or fungus to kill them.
I use 4 pounds sugar per 1000 sq.ft, water it in well, and it feeds thoise microbes, and they work round the clock enriching your soil.
Corn gluten meal will also treat for fungus, and adds many nutrients to your soil.
Lava sand and alfalfa meal are two other rich additatives you can use.
Just scatter a thin application of them all over the yard, and water them in.
You can do this as often as you like, do if you did it every month or two during the growing season, it will really perk things up.
Alfalfa meal is very good for flowering plants and shrubs to promote more growth, and more and larger flowers.
You can also make a tea of it by soaking 1 cup alfalfa meal per 5 gallons of water,overnight, to water your plants indoors or out. You can strain it well, and put it in a garden sprayer to foliar feed.
I just learned about the alfalfa meal and lava sand this past spring. I have used it a few times and I like the results, but the most startling results I got was when I started using the sugar each spring and fall.
The dollar weed, purge, dandelions and the easier to deal with weeds were gone first.
The crabgrass and johnson grass came up each spring for a couple of years, but about half as much as the year before, and started dying out right away,and in the second or third year, none even came up.
You can put the sugar down any time you like.
I just do it each spring and fall, because I always fed that on schedule when I was using chemicals.
Unlike chemical fertilizers, if you spill too much sugar on one spot or area, it doesn't burh or harm your grass in any way.
Cedar bark mulch sprinkled all over your yard in the early spring will repel a lot of insects, including termites, and a trail of it about 3 or 4 inches wide and an inch or two hight around the the foundation of your house will keep the termites away from it.
Write if I can help you more with organics.
Charlotte