How to Get Rid of Crabgrass for Good

Crabgrass is a nemesis of lawn lovers everywhere, including here in the Raleigh area. It’s scientific name, Digitaria is a warm, seasonal plant that grows annually that many people consider a weed. The reason behind the name “Crabgrass” comes from its characteristic of sharing a common and shallow root system that appears to be spread out like a crab across the lawn.

How does Crabgrass emerge?

When the weather warms, the soil in the earth gradually warms as well. This is when crabgrass starts to grow.
Once the temperature of the atmosphere reaches around 60 degrees Fahrenheit, Crabgrass seeds left by plants prior begin to grow; the seeds that never germinated the year before now begin to do so.
These germinating plants quickly grow and emerge onto the exterior surface.
Crabgrass plants create thousands of seeds every year to be left in the ground to produce more Crabgrass the following year.
However, come fall, Crabgrass stops producing seeds and the cold weather kills off the rest of that year’s plants.

How to eliminate Crabgrass from your lawn

The best way to eliminate Crabgrass is to focus on preventing it from emerging at all. Pre-emergent herbicides can be applied to kill the soon-to-germinate Crabgrass seeds before they ever have a chance to sprout. In addition, it is best to maintain a healthy, full lawn as a defense to Crabgrass.

For example, if you water your lawn less frequently and more deeply, the shallow root system of the Crabgrass will not be able to use this resource. Though, your turfgrass will.
Another method of Crabgrass prevention is to mow your lawn a little longer than normal so that the Crabgrass does not receive the direct sunlight it needs in order to produce more plants the following year.

Barefoot Lawn Care can eliminate your Crabgrass invasion

In reality, winning the war against Crabgrass is a difficult task. The timing for laying down pre-emergent herbicide, for example, has to be very precise. You can do this by taking soil temperatures, followed by applying the herbicide at just the right moment. Barefoot Lawn Care has the Crabgrass prevention process down to a science. Call us at 919-934-3554 if you’re in Apex, Cary, Garner, Clayton, Fuquay-Varina, Holly Springs, Johnston County, Wake County, Wake Forest or the surrounding areas and are interested in our help on dealing with the aggravating problem of Crabgrass, once and for all.