DIYbanter - View Single Post - Grass: Overseeding or Weeding (or both)???

wrote:
Why does everyone hate crabgrass? As long as it's green and not a
broad leaf weed, I dont care what it is...... ????

Good question. Actually as I renovate the lawns on our rental property I
don't mind a little crabgrass because it *is* something green and
doesn't look too bad unless you're up close.

But.

Crabgrass is first of all a symptom of a problem lawn. That is, it tells
you that the real turfgrasses aren't healthy for some reason.

Second, it's not a turfgrass. It doesn't create a turfy root system, but
one more like a dandelion. It doesn't create the thatchy turf that makes
a great lawn fun to walk on.

Third, it's an annual, not a perennial. It only grows from May to
October, or so, and at first frost you have brown patches where the
crabgrass used to be. If snow is delayed you end up with mud, and you
get mud in the spring in any case, until the crabgrass decides to come in.

The soil is compacted already (crabgrass handles it better than turf),
and the lack of a strong root system means this will only get worse.

Eventually the soil won't retain water, and you'll get runoff and erosion.

Enough reasons yet?