Question
Hello:

I had a pretty nice lawn back in early to late June.  Since the beginning of July I have been getting more and more crab grass.  Do you know of any "natural" or "cheap" ways to get rid of it? I hate going to the local store and buying crab grass killer for $40 a bag. I live in southwest Connecticut, zip code 06611.

Thanks,

Paul

Answer
Crabgrass killer (pre-emergent herbicide) mixed with fertilizer in bags for about $40 would be useless now. The herbicide is for pre-emergent, e.g. before the seeds germinate (pre-emergent = before they emerge).

The fertilizer w/herbicides must be applied in early to mid april to be active in the soil. The herbicide will then prevent weed seeds from germinating (sprouting). Once the weeds sprout, using pre-emergent herbicides for crabgrass is not going to work.

If you have a problem with crabgrass, I recommend that you fertilize your lawn w/crabgrass preventer next april. Then skip your usual spring fertilizer application and do not fertilize again until september.

In your area, apply fertilizer in late spring, early fall and late fall (such as late may, early september and late october). Do not fertilize too early in spring (unless you need to put down pre-emergent crabgrass preventer mixed with fertilizer) and never fertilize during hot summer months.
If you put fertilizer w/pre-emergent crabgrass preventer down in early april, then skip the may application.

To treat already existing crabgrass plants now you can try to purchase a spray bottle of WEED-BE-GON CRABGRASS CONTROL. It is available at garden centers, home depot, lowes, walmart, etc although the major home improvement stores have started to put their lawn care products away.

I bought a bottle this spring for less than $8. Ortho makes several WEED-BE-GON products, most for broadleaf weeds such as thisle, dandelion, clover, etc. But there is one special formular just for crabgrass. Make sure the lable states "CRABGRASS CONTROL". It can be used on young crabgrass plants. When the crabgrass plants get too mature(4 leaves or more) they tend to become resistant to the herbicide.

Don't worry though.

Crabgrass is an annual plant which means that it will grow one season, set seed, and die with first frost. Next year in early spring, the seeds will germinate (sprout) and grow into new grass plants. the mother plants wont survive the winter. In your area, all you have to do is to wait until winter (put up with it this year) and then apply fertilizer w/crabgrass preventer next year in early april. You can still look for a bottle of OTHO'S WEED-BE-GON CRABGRASS CONTROL to use for any single weeds that did manage to germinate (sprout) even though you used to pre-emergent herbicide. Otherwise, handpulling the few crabgrass plants which does survive is also an option (should not be too many).

Fertilizer mixed with pre-emergent herbicides should be watered in well after the product has been applied to a dry lawn. Apply in early spring. do not delay past 1st half april. Because, when the soil temperatures start to go up in early spring, the weed seeds germinate, and then it is too late.

Instead of buying fertilizer w/crabgrass preventer, you can also look for a product called CORN GLUTEN MEAL (not corn meal, but corn gluten meal.. available at farm supply stores). Apply 20 lbs per 1000 sq feet evenly spread. It is an organic horse feed which will fertilize the lawn with a slow release fertilizer and also prevent crabgrass seeds from germinating. Don't use less than 20 lbs per 1000 sq feet. To calculate how many sq feet your lawn is, divide the lawn area into logical squares. Then mulitply the length times the width of each area and add the sums together.
example: area 1: 30 x 80 = 2,400 sq feet
area 2: 50 x 10 = 500 sq feet.
area 3: 75 x 25 = 1,875 sq feet.
Total: 4,775 sq feet. You require: 4.8 x 20 = 96 lbs. e.g. two large 50 lbs bags should do. (just an example).

Personally, I don't find much difference between using corn gluten meal or fertilizer w/crabgrass preventer but some people prefer the organic approach.


Good luck.