crabgrass life

[Barony]

Wow, the crabgrass has really popped. Just a quick question for those who are in the know. What is the typical "life" of crabgrass, meaning how long before it starts dying off for the season?

[harvey lee]

Crab grass does very well in a hot and dry year.The crab grass wont die off until the first frost.If it goes to seed first then apply some crab grass killer to prevent the seeds from germinating in the spring.It also wouldnt hurt to appy a pre emergence killer in the spring to.Nasty stuff those crabb grasses.

[Powerstroke]

By the time you notice crabgrass it is pretty well established in its spot. It will have 4-5 stages of growth during the season and won't go away until we get frost. It will definately go to seed before then and spread ltos mroe seeds in your lawn. You can start by pulling it out right now or you can spray it with a post-emergent herbicide. There were 2 different threads about crabgrass in the last week with lots of ideas on how to get rid of it.

Next thing is to plan on getting ahead of it next year by applying a PRE-emergent in the spring.

[LwnmwnMan2]

Easiest / cheapest thing to do it just let it be for now.

However, make sure you make a mental note of the location for next spring. If you have a large patch, or if it's located along a driveway / parking area / sidewalk due to dieoff from last winter, then next spring concentrate your pre-emergence application in those areas.

I'm not saying double or triple the dose, follow the label. However, one trick that might help, especially if it's located along an area that will heat up faster (blacktop, darker gravel drive) is to just do an application of pre-emergence only in those areas.

The effectiveness, in general, of the pre-m herbicide is going to be +/- 4ish weeks. Then about 3-4 weeks later, do another application, this time over your whole yard.

If you only have a plant here / there type deal, then make sure you do a blanket application (cover whole yard) in the spring.

It needs to be done before the ground temp gets to be 55 degrees. You can buy a meat thermometer, or check out the local box stores and you should be able to find one. Just walk around your yard periodically.

When you check, the ground temp needs to be 55 degrees at sunrise for 3 mornings in a row. At this time you're going to start to see germination.

You can also use this HSOforum for a fairly "accurate but general" tale of your ground temps....

http://www.greencastonline.com/SoilTempMaps.aspx

If you'd like to do it now, find Drive 75, and mix it, but when it COSTS about $75 / acre, compared to doing it in the spring at a cost of about $40 / acre, you have to decide which way you'd like to go with how much property you're trying to cover.

[Barony]

I usually put 1 application of crabgrass preventer on sometime towards the end of May (when I see the lilocs start to bloom) and then leave it at that. What I am hearing is that I should spot treat late April/early May, and then do the whole yard when I normally do. There has been a lot of growth along my shed and driveway, and that makes sense.

[Bigbartguy]

Lwn - how do you apply the Drive 75? I've seen it on Lesco's site but cant seem to find any directions about how to apply? What kind of sprayer/etc?

thanks!

[Powerstroke]

Drive is mixed like any other herbicide. You would mix a certain amount in a sprayer or small spray bottle and apply with a misting nozzle for good coverage on the target plant.

The Drive I use is a powder. Just measure and mix with water.

[LwnmwnMan2]

If you go back to that Lesco site and look up Drive 75 again, towards the upper right corner you should see a link the the "label".

Click on that, and that will bring up the label off of the canister.

Powerstroke is correct, it's a dry product that you mix with water and spot spray the property.