We know a person that puts a certain kind of fertilizer on his lawn. The
fertilizer kills what he calls "crab grass" and turns it yellow-brown, while
the rest of the lawn is still green. So this guy always has a lawn full of
large, round, yellow-brown spots. He claims he must kill the crab grass
this way, then plant new grass seeds in the yellow-brown spots.

What is the best way to handle this "crab grass" problem?

Disregard it. You CAN'T fight nature, and using these fertilizers is making
things worse because you also kill beneficial plants and insects.

Crab grass (and dandelions, and other plants) is not the problem: people
with the wrong attitude toward nature and native plants are the problem.
Just look at the person doing so: he (or she?) is into a vicious cycle that
will never end, as seeds migrate all the time (by wind in the case of
dandelion, by sticking to animals or people, by birds, etc) - it is a losing
proposition at best.

"New Question" wrote in message
. ..
We know a person that puts a certain kind of fertilizer on his lawn. The
fertilizer kills what he calls "crab grass" and turns it yellow-brown,
while
the rest of the lawn is still green. So this guy always has a lawn full
of
large, round, yellow-brown spots. He claims he must kill the crab grass
this way, then plant new grass seeds in the yellow-brown spots.

What is the best way to handle this "crab grass" problem?

Disregard it. You CAN'T fight nature, and using these fertilizers is making
things worse because you also kill beneficial plants and insects.

Crab grass (and dandelions, and other plants) is not the problem: people
with the wrong attitude toward nature and native plants are the problem.
Just look at the person doing so: he (or she?) is into a vicious cycle that
will never end, as seeds migrate all the time (by wind in the case of
dandelion, by sticking to animals or people, by birds, etc) - it is a losing
proposition at best.

"New Question" wrote in message
. ..
We know a person that puts a certain kind of fertilizer on his lawn. The
fertilizer kills what he calls "crab grass" and turns it yellow-brown,
while
the rest of the lawn is still green. So this guy always has a lawn full
of
large, round, yellow-brown spots. He claims he must kill the crab grass
this way, then plant new grass seeds in the yellow-brown spots.

What is the best way to handle this "crab grass" problem?

just get some crabgrass killer ns is full of bs. I got rid of my
crabgrass 10 yrs ago it never came back. Let ns live with his weeds

On this day, 3/19/2004 11:02 AM, New Question wrote thusly::

We know a person that puts a certain kind of fertilizer on his lawn. The
fertilizer kills what he calls "crab grass" and turns it yellow-brown, while
the rest of the lawn is still green. So this guy always has a lawn full of
large, round, yellow-brown spots. He claims he must kill the crab grass
this way, then plant new grass seeds in the yellow-brown spots.

What is the best way to handle this "crab grass" problem?


Use a pre-emergent herbicide specifically for crabgrass found at any
home center. Follow directions on when to apply it.

m Ransley wrote:
just get some crabgrass killer ns is full of bs. I got rid of my
crabgrass 10 yrs ago it never came back. Let ns live with his weeds


crabgrass requires a pre-emergent weedkiller, i believe. The weed we
had that was similar to crab required one, and it is time critical to do
the job. Also fairly toxic to wildlife, if I recall. It's been a
while. I'm not obsessed with growing grass, and once in healthy
condition it is relatively easy to keep that way. Problem is that folks
dump a lot of nasty stuff on the ground that does more harm than good if
not used properly. Frogs are going away, and alligators are deformed
from gosh knows what that comes down the river. I rarely see honey bees
any more.

On Fri, 19 Mar 2004 13:02:44 -0500, "New Question" wrote:

We know a person that puts a certain kind of fertilizer on his lawn. The
fertilizer kills what he calls "crab grass" and turns it yellow-brown, while
the rest of the lawn is still green. So this guy always has a lawn full of
large, round, yellow-brown spots. He claims he must kill the crab grass
this way, then plant new grass seeds in the yellow-brown spots.

What is the best way to handle this "crab grass" problem?



There is a fairly new product that will kill crab grass, yet not harm
the lawn. How it works, I'm not sure. I usually dig it out.

I applied pre-emergence last week (for one of my client's lawn) and
will apply it again in 3 months. Crabgrass seeds can remain dormant
for 20 years.

If you overseed in the fall (or best time in your region) then
crabgrass will have a difficult time growing in a thickly planted
lawn. Most crabgrass problems arise from a sparse lawn.

well Nor Min i agree, i havnt used crap on my lawn in years, but i
did kill the crab , and now i let it go natural. but yes you are
right. chemicals are bad. And since we dont communicate with the
---life we dont know how bad

There's some kind of organic crabgrass killer that is also time sensitive but
completely nontoxic. I'm thinking it sounds something like cornmeal. I need
to get some also.

Greg
Greg

"NorMinn" wrote in message
...
m Ransley wrote:
just get some crabgrass killer ns is full of bs. I got rid of my
crabgrass 10 yrs ago it never came back. Let ns live with his weeds
crabgrass requires a pre-emergent weedkiller, i believe. The weed we
had that was similar to crab required one, and it is time critical to do
the job. Also fairly toxic to wildlife, if I recall. It's been a
while. I'm not obsessed with growing grass, and once in healthy
condition it is relatively easy to keep that way. Problem is that folks
dump a lot of nasty stuff on the ground that does more harm than good if
not used properly. Frogs are going away, and alligators are deformed
from gosh knows what that comes down the river. I rarely see honey bees
any more.
Crab grass is hard to get rid of, but after several years of trying, I found
you have to do it in two steps. In August when the plants are evident,
apply "crabgrass killer" before the seeds drop. In the spring, while
forsythia is in bloom, apply "per-emergent" crabgrass preventer. This
(when water hit the powder) forms a "film" that the crabgrass shoots cannot
penetrate.

There is a new pre-emergent product that is supposed to let you plant new
grass. I've heard it is more expensive that the usual stuff, however.

If just want an ordinary lawn, use "tall fescue" grass seed. Note: not
ordinary fescue, or red fescue, or "high percentage of tall fescue". Tall
fescue was bred specifically for lawns about 10 years ago from a "weed"
grass that was very hardy. It has roots that can go down 2 to 3 feet to get
water. This means that it will stay green in the middle of summer. I use
tall fescue for overseeding, patching and replanting. After 3 years it
looks good.

New Question wrote:
We know a person that puts a certain kind of fertilizer on his lawn. The
fertilizer kills what he calls "crab grass" and turns it yellow-brown, while
the rest of the lawn is still green. So this guy always has a lawn full of
large, round, yellow-brown spots. He claims he must kill the crab grass
this way, then plant new grass seeds in the yellow-brown spots.

What is the best way to handle this "crab grass" problem?

Crabgrass grows where regular grass won't, or can't. Make sure you have
healthy grass.

Fertilizer/crabgrass preventer is part of this.

One overlooked part of this is proper mowing. Cut your grass no lower
than 3" in crabby areas; this will prevent the crabgrass from getting
sun. Also, make sure your mower blades are sharp, so your real grass
isn't stressed as much by mowing. Mow often enough that you don't end up
with extra-long grass thatch (or use a mulching mower), but try not to
mow more often than necessary either.

In article ,
says...
We know a person that puts a certain kind of fertilizer on his lawn. The
fertilizer kills what he calls "crab grass" and turns it yellow-brown, while
the rest of the lawn is still green. So this guy always has a lawn full of
large, round, yellow-brown spots. He claims he must kill the crab grass
this way, then plant new grass seeds in the yellow-brown spots.

What is the best way to handle this "crab grass" problem?



Get a good competing grass, such as burmuda ar St Augustine. I have St
Augustine grass and believe me I have no crabgrass problems.

On Fri, 19 Mar 2004 13:02:44 -0500, "New Question" wrote:


What is the best way to handle this "crab grass" problem?



I have a 8000 sq ft lot so its a lot of maintenance if I want the
fancy grass lawn. My house is next to an elementary school playground
cum public parkland. So I have learned to live with their crabgrass,
at least that's what I think it is, that took over my lawn and love
it for its hardiness and low maintenance. I hardly need to water it
and of course during water shortages I am not allowed to waste water
on lawns anyway. They become lush again after the first rain.

The only weed killer maintenance I use is the dandelion "round-up"
type herbicide. This roundup stuff costs an arm and a leg at the
gardening supplies shop. I found a two gallon container sold at the
farm supplies place. Cost me $80 about 10 years ago and I still have
1/4 left. Originally I waited for drought conditions so that the
dandelions and broadleaves would be stressed then sprayed the
herbicide. Thereafter I would spot apply the solution to any
dandelions I come across, or spray them after rainfall when the
herbicide wouldn't dry up before the dandelion roots get a chance to
absorb some. Works.

Hi Greg!

G Last summer I started digging out the crab grass with a dandelion
G fork. Don't know how it's going to be this summer (the grass hasn't
G started to grow yet) but only saw a few re-growths which may have been
G missed originally. The grass also started to regrow where the crab
G grass was.
G
G Used this manual removal method with the dandelions also. Admittedly
G it's a continual thing as the dandelion seeds float in the wind but
G does give me a good excuse to be outside doing next-to-nothing.
G (There have been are very few dandelions in our yard since I started
G this little project ten or twelve years ago.)
G
G This manual method sounds like just what I need. I never did much
G like the "weed 'n feed" method of spreading herbicides over the whole
G lawn. Taking on the undesirables hand-to-leaf may take a little work,
G but most of us could use the exercise.

Not sure how much exercise there is in this method: usually on my
knees (I kneel on a foam pad). Fill a two or so quart bucket and dump
this into a lawn bag. The small bucket forces me to get up and take a
walk every so often, else tend to get a little stiff from being
hunched over!

I too am not all that thrilled with the use of herbicides. Part of it
is due to used to have a dog (RIP) and didn't want her to ingest the
poison. Also quite a bit of wildlife around here. Also that little
bit of Scottish in me kicks in: prefer to not spend the money! g

The "original plan" was to dig out the crab grass starting at the
house and go about half-way to the fence (boundary) -- guess about 30
feet. Went way beyond the halfway point: almost to the fence!

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