How to Tackle Crabgrass in the Lawn & Garden (2024)

FAQs

What kills crabgrass but not the garden? ›

Try gardening vinegar.

This all-natural method to kill crabgrass is a great option that won't cause lasting soil damage. Simply spray the vinegar (5 percent acidity or higher) on the weed until it's drenched. Repeat a few times over the course of several days to a couple weeks, or until the crabgrass dies.

Use a corn gluten based product, either liquid or solid, and make sure to apply it during spring. Spray the crabgrass with the pre-emergent herbicide according to the instructions on the product's label. Mow your lawn regularly to prevent weeds from popping up.

If you already have signs of crabgrass growing in your lawn it is important to take care when mowing. Crabgrass stalks contain hundreds of seeds, these can spread every time you mow or rake the lawn making the problem worse.

Quinclorac. Quinclorac (Drive XLR8, Quinclorac 75DF, others) is a postemergence herbicide for control of crabgrass, foxtail, barnyardgrass, and a number of broadleaf weed species in established turfgrass.

Crabgrass that invades flower beds or vegetable gardens should also be controlled through simple horticultural practices. Pulling crabgrass by hand is the preferred, albeit tiring, method. You can also hoe the area around the plants to pull up crabgrass by the roots.

The safest and most effective way to kill crabgrass is by using gardening vinegar. Gardening vinegar, which is stronger than household vinegar, will put crabgrass down in 24 hours. Fill a spray bottle and spray the weed thoroughly with the vinegar.

For isolated patches of crabgrass, you can use boiling water to kill the plant. Make sure the soil is thoroughly saturated with water at boiling temperatures.

The best defense against crabgrass is to keep your lawn healthy and well-watered. You can employ many organic methods throughout the year to kill crabgrass naturally, such as weeding, using mulch, and using vinegar.

Pulling out crabgrass can be effective. However, if you choose to enter into hand-to-hand combat with this invasive grass, there's a few things you should know. First, only pull out young crabgrass. The younger weeds leave behind less of a hole for the weed seeds to fill in.

To put it simply, mulching the grass clippings is the best option. That's because the grass clippings are full of nutrients, and as they decompose, they will return the nutrients to your soil. These nutrients will help your lawn grow strong roots, resists diseases, and give your grass that beautiful green color.

Should I overseed over crabgrass? ›

Although many Americans have been told that having a better lawn means using chemical herbicides, that isn't the only solu- tion. Lawns infested with annual weeds, most notably crabgrass, can be improved through a technique called repetitive overseeding.

Crabgrass flourishes in tough growing conditions, making it a sinister foe in a typical home lawn. While New England turf grasses do well in cool to warm weather conditions, crabgrass loves the heat and even drought conditions.

Weeding it out by hand is best if you find crabgrass in your edible garden. This plant has shallow roots, but using weeders or a trowel as a crabgrass removal tool will make the job easier. Don't toss the uprooted weeds in your compost pile, though, because they could still reseed themselves.

Un-germinated crabgrass seeds can wait in the soil for up to thirty years before sprouting. Given the fact that a single crabgrass plant can produce 150,000 crabgrass seeds during the growing season, it's easy to see why controlling it is difficult.