Defeating Stubborn Crabgrass In Coventry Township OH

In the effort to have a healthy beautiful lawn, crabgrass can be a tough opponent in Coventry Twp OH. This weed gets its name from the way that it sprawls from one central root across the ground on your lawn, keeping a low profile like the invader that it is. But if you are armed with some great knowledge, a plan, and the right weapons, this stubborn rooting grass can be beaten.

CRABGRASS

Crabgrass is a warm-season annual weed that grows everywhere in Ohio. It is native to Europe but was unfortunately imported to North America as forage. It thrives in areas that absorb heat, such as right next to driveways, curbs, sidewalks and south-facing areas in the lawn. Crabgrass grows very quickly in hot and dry conditions. It loves compacted soils and clay. It usually forms into mats that smothers more desirable grasses and more often than not steals nutrients.

Crabgrass reproduces by aggressively spreading seeds all over your lawn. It germinates in the spring once the soil has warmed up to at least 55-60 degrees for a week. The weed grows through the summer, produces seeds and then drops them, then dies off with the first hard frost. In fact, before dying in the fall, a single weed can distribute thousands of seeds which will germinate in the following year.

SERVICING THE LAWN IN COVENTRY TOWNSHIP OHIO

The best weapon you have against crabgrass is a thick, healthy fertilized lawn, which will provide a dark canopy of grass blades over any crabgrass seeds and prevent them from sprouting. There are a several things that you can do achieve this other than fertilizing, like reduce soil compaction and core aerate your lawn, mow high and water thoroughly.

Reseeding & Overseed: Thin or weed-damaged areas should be reseeded in the fall. The warm days, cool nights and morning dews make this the best time of the year for putting down grass seed and will help crowd out crabgrass.

CONTROL

If you haven’t done the kind of maintenance as mentioned above, or if your neighbor hasn’t and seeds from his crabgrass spread to your lawn constantly, there are preventive steps you can take to deal with the crabgrass waiting to germinate and take over your lawn.
Most importantly, you want to treat the lawn before the seedlings have a chance to sprout. You can do this by applying a pre-emergent treatment, which is a crabgrass preventer, in the spring. This treatment creates a barrier at the surface of the soil in your lawn. As the seeds begin germinating, they take in the herbicide and then die.

WRAPPING UP

You can reclaim your lawn from the scourge of crabgrass by following the above instructions. When you start with good seed, and keep building up the soil, you’ll soon have a great canopy of green grass that will be much easier to maintain.