Ok, I am a first time homeowner struggling with a serious bout of
crabgrass. I bought my house in November, and when the weather
started getting nice out, I spent a lot of time and money on my lawn
making it look nice, which it did, until about late May, when
crabgrass just overtook about 80% of my front yard and 60% of my
backyard.

This occured about 1-2 weeks AFTER I used Scott's Lawn Builder with
crabgrass preventer on it.

Did I not use the crabgrass preventer early enough? Most
documentation says that it should be used in early May. It mid-May
too late?

And now that my crabgrass is in full bloom, is there any way to kill
effectively? I tried spraying a ready-to-use Bayer product on it, to
no avail! Should I mow high, or low?

Thanks!

On 16 Jul 2004 09:25:18 -0700, (AJ) wrote:

Ok, I am a first time homeowner struggling with a serious bout of
crabgrass. I bought my house in November, and when the weather
started getting nice out, I spent a lot of time and money on my lawn
making it look nice, which it did, until about late May, when
crabgrass just overtook about 80% of my front yard and 60% of my
backyard.

This occured about 1-2 weeks AFTER I used Scott's Lawn Builder with
crabgrass preventer on it.

Did I not use the crabgrass preventer early enough? Most
documentation says that it should be used in early May. It mid-May
too late?

And now that my crabgrass is in full bloom, is there any way to kill
effectively? I tried spraying a ready-to-use Bayer product on it, to
no avail! Should I mow high, or low?

Thanks!

If you are mowing regularly the crabgrass won't have enough time to
tassel. The month of May sounds too late (I suppose you are located in
New Jersey). I apply crabgrass preventer in March, as soon as I see a
dandelion bloom in the neighborhood. The Bayer stuff did not work
well for me. Next year make TWO applications of crabgrass preventer,
one in the early spring and then again 90 days later. Find out the
best time to overseed and you'll have to time the crabgrass preventer
application not to have an impact on the grass seed. Lawn care and
results require patience.

Last year we had a brand new house where the builder was supposed to put in
a lawn. Unfortunately, because he planted it too late and the weather was
extremely hot, none of his seed took, so we ended up with an acre lawn of
nothing but crabgrass. We knew almost nothing about lawns, but did a lot of
reading.

Here's what we did. I has worked out very well. We got the builder to pay
for the seed and other products it took to fix the lawn.

1. Last summer we kept the crabgrass mowed short to keep it from making seed
heads. It dried up and died in August.

2. In September we overseeded with a couple different varieties of grass
seed. We used quick growing stuff near the driveway where we had erosion,
some cheap stuff from Home Depot, some stuff from Aubuchons, and some
Scott's Premium mix on the rest. The quick growing stuff filled in very
fast. Didn't see much from the rest.

3. We put down crabgrass preventer plus fertilizer as soon as the snow was
gone. Though the lawn was very spotty at first, a whole lot of the grass we
planted last fall grew in and it has continued to grow and fill in bare
spots all spring.

4. We used an application of weed & feed in April. We're not crazy about
chemicals, but it gave the grass a really good head start. Now I hand weed
any further weeds that come up, mostly ragweed and dig out some of the
plantains if I'm feeling energetic.

5. We overseeded a couple of bare spots left by the snow plow 2 months after
putting in the crab grass preventer. In retrospect, we'd keep the preventer
away from areas that need reseeding and seed them earlier.

6. We will overseed heavily again in September.

We got some crabgrass growing into barespots still, despite using the
preventer, but it is nothing compared with last year.
And our lawn looks a whole lot better than the neighbors' though they spent
many thousands of dollars having a landscape company install their lawn last
year. I think mixing the different grass mixes together was a very good
idea, since different kinds of grass seem to have taken root in different
parts of the lawn. The neighbors' lawn is a monoculture and it has quite a
few brown spots especially over their septic system, while our lawn is
green everywhere--wet, dry, shady and sunny--though with subtle differences
in color due to the different varieties of grass. Since we're in the country
surrounded by farms, I prefer the more natural variegated look of our grass
rather than the sterile monoculture look. But the good news is, it is all
grass! By next year after another overseeding it should be gorgeous.

--Jenny - Low Carbing for 4 years. Below goal for weight. Type 2 diabetes,
hba1c 5.7 .
Cut the carbs to respond to my email address!

Low carb facts and figures, my weight-loss photos, tips, recipes,
strategies for dealing with diabetes and more at
http://www.geocities.com/jenny_the_bean/

Looking for help controlling your blood sugar?
Visit http://www.alt-support-diabetes.org/...0Diagnosed.htm



"AJ" wrote in message
m...
Ok, I am a first time homeowner struggling with a serious bout of
crabgrass. I bought my house in November, and when the weather
started getting nice out, I spent a lot of time and money on my lawn
making it look nice, which it did, until about late May, when
crabgrass just overtook about 80% of my front yard and 60% of my
backyard.

This occured about 1-2 weeks AFTER I used Scott's Lawn Builder with
crabgrass preventer on it.

Did I not use the crabgrass preventer early enough? Most
documentation says that it should be used in early May. It mid-May
too late?

And now that my crabgrass is in full bloom, is there any way to kill
effectively? I tried spraying a ready-to-use Bayer product on it, to
no avail! Should I mow high, or low?

Thanks!

thanks for your insight. I guess the key to my whole problem is that I need
to put preventer down earlier. I can't really tell, but it doesn't look
like many other people in my development have as much crabgrass as I do.
This really irks me So this year, when the crabgrass dries out and dies,
I will rake it up, and overseed, and next year, I will put preventer down in
March, Lawn Builder with weed control in April, and then overseed again, I
guess.

Thanks again!


"Jenny" wrote in message
...
Last year we had a brand new house where the builder was supposed to put
in
a lawn. Unfortunately, because he planted it too late and the weather was
extremely hot, none of his seed took, so we ended up with an acre lawn of
nothing but crabgrass. We knew almost nothing about lawns, but did a lot
of
reading.

Here's what we did. I has worked out very well. We got the builder to pay
for the seed and other products it took to fix the lawn.

1. Last summer we kept the crabgrass mowed short to keep it from making
seed
heads. It dried up and died in August.

2. In September we overseeded with a couple different varieties of grass
seed. We used quick growing stuff near the driveway where we had erosion,
some cheap stuff from Home Depot, some stuff from Aubuchons, and some
Scott's Premium mix on the rest. The quick growing stuff filled in very
fast. Didn't see much from the rest.

3. We put down crabgrass preventer plus fertilizer as soon as the snow was
gone. Though the lawn was very spotty at first, a whole lot of the grass
we
planted last fall grew in and it has continued to grow and fill in bare
spots all spring.

4. We used an application of weed & feed in April. We're not crazy about
chemicals, but it gave the grass a really good head start. Now I hand
weed
any further weeds that come up, mostly ragweed and dig out some of the
plantains if I'm feeling energetic.

5. We overseeded a couple of bare spots left by the snow plow 2 months
after
putting in the crab grass preventer. In retrospect, we'd keep the
preventer
away from areas that need reseeding and seed them earlier.

6. We will overseed heavily again in September.

We got some crabgrass growing into barespots still, despite using the
preventer, but it is nothing compared with last year.
And our lawn looks a whole lot better than the neighbors' though they
spent
many thousands of dollars having a landscape company install their lawn
last
year. I think mixing the different grass mixes together was a very good
idea, since different kinds of grass seem to have taken root in different
parts of the lawn. The neighbors' lawn is a monoculture and it has quite a
few brown spots especially over their septic system, while our lawn is
green everywhere--wet, dry, shady and sunny--though with subtle
differences
in color due to the different varieties of grass. Since we're in the
country
surrounded by farms, I prefer the more natural variegated look of our
grass
rather than the sterile monoculture look. But the good news is, it is all
grass! By next year after another overseeding it should be gorgeous.

--Jenny - Low Carbing for 4 years. Below goal for weight. Type 2
diabetes,
hba1c 5.7 .
Cut the carbs to respond to my email address!

Low carb facts and figures, my weight-loss photos, tips, recipes,
strategies for dealing with diabetes and more at
http://www.geocities.com/jenny_the_bean/

Looking for help controlling your blood sugar?
Visit http://www.alt-support-diabetes.org/...0Diagnosed.htm



"AJ" wrote in message
m...
Ok, I am a first time homeowner struggling with a serious bout of
crabgrass. I bought my house in November, and when the weather
started getting nice out, I spent a lot of time and money on my lawn
making it look nice, which it did, until about late May, when
crabgrass just overtook about 80% of my front yard and 60% of my
backyard.

This occured about 1-2 weeks AFTER I used Scott's Lawn Builder with
crabgrass preventer on it.

Did I not use the crabgrass preventer early enough? Most
documentation says that it should be used in early May. It mid-May
too late?

And now that my crabgrass is in full bloom, is there any way to kill
effectively? I tried spraying a ready-to-use Bayer product on it, to
no avail! Should I mow high, or low?

Thanks!

"AJ" wrote in message
m...
Ok, I am a first time homeowner struggling with a serious bout of
crabgrass. I bought my house in November, and when the weather
started getting nice out, I spent a lot of time and money on my lawn
making it look nice, which it did, until about late May, when
crabgrass just overtook about 80% of my front yard and 60% of my
backyard.

This occured about 1-2 weeks AFTER I used Scott's Lawn Builder with
crabgrass preventer on it.

Did I not use the crabgrass preventer early enough? Most
documentation says that it should be used in early May. It mid-May
too late?


Well, it was too late if the crabgrass had already germinated.
The strategy is for the crabgrass preventer to be applied prior to the
soil temperature reaching 62 degrees F. at which point the crabgrass
seeds germinate.

Forsythia shrubs (bright yellow blooms) in your neighborhood will
indicate when to apply a pre-emergence herbicide for crabgrass control.
Typically, from the time the Forsythia starts to bloom 'til two weeks after
their blooms begin to fall is a good window of opportunity to get the
crabgrass preventer down.

On Fri, 16 Jul 2004 21:41:46 -0400, AJ M. wrote:
thanks for your insight. I guess the key to my whole problem is that I need
to put preventer down earlier. I can't really tell, but it doesn't look
like many other people in my development have as much crabgrass as I do.
This really irks me So this year, when the crabgrass dries out and dies,
I will rake it up, and overseed, and next year, I will put preventer down in
March, Lawn Builder with weed control in April, and then overseed again, I

Forget the crabgrass preventer. Overseed in the fall, fertilize next year,
lime if needed, and mow correctly (no more than 1/3 of the blade length
at any mowing, cut high). Absolutely no scalping the lawn.

Crabgrass is an opportunist of open ground. Get your lawn growing well
so there's no bare soil, and it won't germinate.

"AJ" wrote in message
m...
Ok, I am a first time homeowner struggling with a serious bout of
crabgrass. I bought my house in November, and when the weather
started getting nice out, I spent a lot of time and money on my lawn
making it look nice, which it did, until about late May, when
crabgrass just overtook about 80% of my front yard and 60% of my
backyard.

This occured about 1-2 weeks AFTER I used Scott's Lawn Builder with
crabgrass preventer on it.

Did I not use the crabgrass preventer early enough? Most
documentation says that it should be used in early May. It mid-May
too late?

And now that my crabgrass is in full bloom, is there any way to kill
effectively? I tried spraying a ready-to-use Bayer product on it, to
no avail! Should I mow high, or low?

Thanks!

Another thing to think of...your weed grass might not be crabgrass. I
always had a habit of calling all weed grass crabgrass and was educated by
my former lawn care company that I had Dallis grass. I know there are a few
different varieties of weed grass and am of the opinion that one product is
not effective on all of them.

Lynn

Kay Lancaster wrote in
:

Crabgrass is an opportunist of open ground. Get your lawn growing
well so there's no bare soil, and it won't germinate.

I keep reading this over and over and yet I have crabgrass seedlings in
the thickest grass in my lawn. I mow to 3 1/2". Seriously annoying.

On Mon, 19 Jul 2004 11:29:10 -0000, GaryM wrote:
Kay Lancaster wrote in
:

Crabgrass is an opportunist of open ground. Get your lawn growing
well so there's no bare soil, and it won't germinate.

I keep reading this over and over and yet I have crabgrass seedlings in
the thickest grass in my lawn. I mow to 3 1/2". Seriously annoying.

How thick is the thickest grass? Does sunlight penetrate to the soil
surface? Do you actually have crabgrass (Digitaria ischaemum or D.
sanguinalis) or do you have another weed grass?
http://www.agron.iastate.edu/~weeds/...edID/crab.html
http://ipm.missouri.edu/ipcm/archives/v13n8/ipmltr1.htm

Kay

I am almost 100% certain it is crabgrass. It looks like the "smooth
crabgrass" I saw in one of the pictures you sent me. It grows almost
horizontally, and it just plan evil looking!

AJ


Kay Lancaster wrote in message ...
On Mon, 19 Jul 2004 11:29:10 -0000, GaryM wrote:
Kay Lancaster wrote in
:

Crabgrass is an opportunist of open ground. Get your lawn growing
well so there's no bare soil, and it won't germinate.

I keep reading this over and over and yet I have crabgrass seedlings in
the thickest grass in my lawn. I mow to 3 1/2". Seriously annoying.

How thick is the thickest grass? Does sunlight penetrate to the soil
surface? Do you actually have crabgrass (Digitaria ischaemum or D.
sanguinalis) or do you have another weed grass?
http://www.agron.iastate.edu/~weeds/...edID/crab.html
http://ipm.missouri.edu/ipcm/archives/v13n8/ipmltr1.htm

Kay