Lawn Care - Removing Crabgrass!

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REMOVING CRABGRASS

Unlike thatch, these grass-like weeds will spread all over your lawn. They may even invade your driveway, walkway, and sidewalks. Removing these weeds is a little trickier since they are heartier than other kinds of weeds. Pulling them out at the roots can be a lot harder than it would seem. With a network of underground roots, these weeds can cling to the ground for a long time.

Removing them may require the use of chemicals, such as herbicides, in order to remove all of them.

Crabgrass

Crabgrass is yellow or pale green in color and resembles a crab because it grows in an outward direction. There are two ways to kill crabgrass; destroying the seeds, or destroying the plant. Knowing a little bit about their growing season will help you determine the best time to kill them.

If you want to destroy the seeds before they have time to germinate, then you will have to use a preemergent herbicide during the late summer or early fall. This will help protect your lawn for the next season.

The following are some tips when dealing with the removal of crabgrass:

If you decide to use this herbicide on your lawn, you should not aerate until the spring as this will allow seeds to grow inside the holes you have punctured in the soil.

It is fine to irrigate your lawn after applying the herbicide and should be done in order to make sure the soil remains healthy. The water will also activate the preemergent herbicide.

You should also reapply the herbicide per the instructions as seeds will germinate at different times.

You should not dethatch your lawn at this time. Wait until spring.

If you are in the process of dethatching and aerating your lawn, you many want to use a postemergent herbicide that you can apply to the crabgrass plant directly. Corn gluten is an organic substance that you can find at your home gardening store that will remove crabgrass as well as fertilize your lawn.

Weeding existing crabgrass will also help reduce the number of seeds that grow on your lawn.

Terry Blackburn. Internet Marketing Consultant, living in South Shields in the North-East of England. Author and Producer of blog http://www.lawnsurgeon.blogspot.com Author of "Your Perfect Lawn," a 90 Page eBook devoted to Lawn Preparation, Lawn Care and Maintenance. Find it at http://www.lawnsurgeon.com

I would be very interested to have your comments on this Article.

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