[kwagner_51]

How the heck do you get rid of this stuff? I have tilled the entire yard up several times. Planted grass, mowed and then got hit with a drought.

I watered my garden, and where the water hit I had crab grass!! I can't get rid of the stuff!!

I am going to till it up again this coming week and plant grass again. This time I will water the grass. Maybe that will help!

Thanks for any and all advice!!

Karen, RN

 

[Five Points]

If your not concerned about the existing grasses in the yard, you could apply a herbicide like roundup and wait a week or so, then till it, level it and plant new.

 

[Mark / Ohio]

I know how you feel. Just when I get the grass all nice and thick and the weeds thinned out along comes another hot and dry summer that takes me back to square one. This past summer was a bad one here as even the weeds died from the hot and dry conditions. Crabgrass preventer in the spring works if you hit it right on the timing and can get the rest of the yard thickened up to keep the seeds from sprouting later. We are getting very close now to a freeze taking it out here for this year. Been down in the low 30'sF a couple of nights with several frosts. As it dies out in the fall I do some over seeding in the worst places in hopes of getting some good grass growing in the spot before the crab grass tries to sprout in the spring.

 

[dakotanut]

I had to go sit in my lawn and pick it all by hand. Only way to get rid of it here. It is a pain in the butt but no chemicals to kill it and not kill the grass either that I can find.

 

[LawnBoy2ndToNone]

I had to go sit in my lawn and pick it all by hand. Only way to get rid of it here. It is a pain in the butt but no chemicals to kill it and not kill the grass either that I can find.

This is the method that I used in my front yard in 2011. 2012, I had little to no crabgrass even with the drought. My back yard being bigger than the front really took a lot of time to keep up with the new sprouts of crabgrass. The key is to pick it before the grass starts to develop the seed pods. Crabgrass seed is very small and spreads quickly. In the late summer early fall, in addition to hand picking crabgrass, I hooked up my dethatcher to my riding mower with a ton of weight on it to really churn up any loose grass and to loosen the dirt. Then hit the yard with some good tall fescue. In the late fall, I had some really nice thick grass, which I hope gets thicker in 2013 without the crabgrass. I also hope that we actually get some rain this year so that my water bill doesn't get outrageous. I know that this process of crabgrass removal seems like a lot of work, and it is, but in the end, I've been very happy with the results and it makes the work worth while.