Crabgrass Makes Me Crabby

Crabgrass

  As I write this there is a forecast of light snow tonight, so it's hard to think about spring. The truth is, though, that March 20^{th (}the official start date of spring) is just around the corner. It will not be long before the fescue grass begins its optimal growing season, especially as we add fertilizer. That is just what we are looking forward to… a fresh cut green lawn. But we also need to consider what else is starting to happen in the lawn.
 Warm season weeds in the turf area are starting to germinate. In March and April we will spray the winter weeds (as well as other weeds that may be visible in the turf) and eliminate those. Now, however, we are beginning to take a pro-active step to stop the warm season weeds by applying a pre-emergent to fescue turf. Pre-emergent is exactly what the name implies, a pre-treatment to stop the weeds from emerging. How does it work? It's really quite simple. The pre-emergent product can be applied either as a spray type product or in a granular form. They both perform the same task; they create a barrier on the surface in the soil. As seeds germinate and weeds start to emerge, the small shoots of the plant absorb the product and die. Pre-emergents stop the weeds from growing so that the established grass can spread.
 This barrier under normal weather conditions can last through the month of August. This is exactly the timeframe that we want because as September approaches, we start preparing for the fall overseeding process. Since the pre-emergent barrier not only stops the bad plants, but also the good plants, if it is still around in the fall it will affect the germination of the new grass seed as we overseed. So timing is crucial. We will be putting down our pre-emergents starting in February, to make sure we get the early sprouts, but also to make sure the barrier breaks down in time.
 One thing to keep mind is that weather can affect how long the barrier lasts. Excessive amounts of rain will break the barrier down early which can cause weed issues late in the summer. They can be controlled with a post-emergent spray, but that is a subject for another blog. The last thing to mention (and maybe the most important) is that the main culprit that we are trying to eliminate in our area is crabgrass. Almost all lawns have crabgrass seeds in the ground from last summer. Each crabgrass plant drops thousands of seeds and it reproduces rapidly. One season without pre-emergent control and you could very well end up with a total crabgrass lawn. That would really make me crabby...
 Okay I know when to stop. Get the pre-emergent down, following the instructions, and control that crabgrass. Thanks,
 The AA Tex Lawn Team