What can I do to get rid of the crab grass that is taking over my lawn?

Question

I am a female and I am doing the work - please keep in mind I do not have a lot of upper body strength for machinery or things like that.

I want to get rid of it easily and NOW!!!!!!!!

Thanks everyone!!!!

Answer 1

growing a dense healthy lawn is the best prevention. so step up your maintenance and water, fertilize, and mow properly. hand pull individual plants before they set seed. appropriate, labeled weed and feed products are also effective.

Answer 2

Crab grass grows where the grass is too thin and sun gets down to the soil. So you need to get your grass growing thick and relatively tall.

For next year:

1. Plant new seed in the fall to fill in those areas where you had lots of crab grass.

2. In the early spring, put down a pre-emergent like corn gluten (organic), or one of the non-organic products labeled pre-emergent. This will keep the crab grass seeds from sprouting.

3. Cut your grass longer to shade out the crab grass seeds.

Answer 3

I would recommend this for your grass it has grass vitamins to keep your lawn healthy, and it will kill your weeds, but the down side to it you will be left with yellow spots in your lawn.that is because those were the weeds and they have died. So continue to use fertilizer for your lawn.you could purchase this at a loews,wal ect...Good-luck     ......Oh buy the way the bottle has a nozzle in the back to be connected to your waterhose.I can't remember the name there are so many 2 choose from they all work the same...

Answer 4

If you want easily and now, I suggest you give it more time.  This fall, you'll lime, fertilize and overseed.  Next year you'll learn to mow correctly, never scalping the lawn.  

That's all it takes.

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A faq I wrote for rec.gardens back about 1998 or so:

Subject: crabgrass faq

>

>What about crabgrass?  Weed killers do not seem to work.  What can

>be done to get rid of it?

Easy once you understand the biology of crabgrass, _Digitaria sanguinalis

or D. ischaemum_, annual species that germinate in bare soil in cool

temperatures, then doesn't grow much until the heat of summer comes.  It

is intolerant of shade.

1) Fertilize and lime your lawn in spring and early fall, to help thicken

it.  Best to get a soil analysis from your local master gardeners or

extension service, but you can probably wing it a bit with the help of

someone who knows the soils in your neighborhood well.  If the grass forms

a nice, thick mat, it doesn't allow weed seeds to germinate.  (Lime helps

correct the soil pH to 5.5 to 6.5, which allows the other grass plants to

take up nutrients easily.)

2) Obtain a wooden stake and put it in the ground someplace where you can

see it easily.  If you've got the standard bluegrass/fescue lawn of most

of the northern states, make a mark at 3.5" and 4" from soil level. Set

your lawnmower blade to 2.75-3".  When the grass hits the 3.5" stake mark

you should mow.  At 4", you *must* mow.  No cheating. If you remove more

than 1/4 to 1/3 the length of a grass plant in a single mowing, it weakens

the plant, possibly opening the soil for weed seed germination.  Because

the grass stays comparatively long, it also shades the crabgrass seedlings

that have germinated and keeps them from developing.

Some times of the year, you'll mow a couple of times a week.  Some times

(typically when it's hot), you won't mow for weeks.

The original research on this method of crabgrass control was done back in

the 40's or 50's -- the fertilizer used was chicken manure, and the

reported success was something like 80% reduction in crabgrass in the  

first year, and 95% in three years.  I tried it myself in a badly abused

lawn in a house I moved into... formerly a feedlot, more than 40 species

of weeds in the lawn.  I used 10-10-10 fertilizer, the cheapest I could  

find, a little glyphosate (roundup) on thistles and quackgrass (a  

rhizomatous perennial) and some good quality bluegrass and fescue seed as

an overseeding in the fall.

I had virtually NO crabgrass in the lawn the following year, and, in

contrast to the neighbors who kept scalping their lawns "to avoid mowing",

I was down to 3 species of weeds within 5 years -- without major pain,

strain or suffering.  The time I spent in the cooler months mowing was  

certainly no greater than the time and effort the neighbors spent hauling

pesticides, spraying, cussing, digging, etc.  And I was collecting

specimens for the weeds class I was helping with from their lawns, not  

mine, because I had so few weeds, and so few species of weeds.

The lawn quickly reverted to a weedy mess after I moved out and the new

owners went back to scalping the lawn, opening up all sorts of bare soil  

for weeds to flourish in .

Answer 5

the easiest way for you too get rid of them would be a weed and feed type product. go to home depot or lowes and look for a bottle that screws on your garden hose. make sure the label says it contains simazine, atrazine, or msma. this is the active ingredient that kills crabgrass. it may take more than one treatment to kill it all depending on how bad the problem is. the other way would be call a local company to come spray a more effective chemical that is not available to the general public. you have to have a liscense to purchase these chems. good luck.