"Using sustainable techniques, least toxic solutions and organic
fertilizers crabgrass CAN be controlled much quicker. The only
crabgrass I have on the 5 acres of lawn I manage is in the area where
I have continued to not regularly top dress with quality compost after
aeration, and continue to use chemical fertilizers at "industry
standard" rates. Go to attra.org and download sustainable turf
documents.... "

Yes, I did go look at it. To control crabgrass, they have two basic
approaches. One is to cultivate a healthy lawn to begin with through
practices like mowing at the correct height, etc. I agree with that.
It will certainly help eliminate crabgrass and most other weeds. But
in most cases, it's not going to be enough.

The other is to use alternative treatments as pre-emergent control or
weed killer. They suggest corn gluten meal at a rate of 40-65lbs per
1000 sq ft. And they acknowledge it will cost about $1.50/lb. That
means to treat my 10,000 sq ft lawn, I need about 500 lbs at a cost of
$750 per application. Real practical! Then they suggest vinegar as a
herbicide, but quickly point out that is expensive as well. Given
those choices, a bag of conventional pre-emergent applied once in the
spring. followed by spot treating any plants with Aclaim if necessary,
looks like a very sound and reasonable practice.