Identifying Crabgrass

Every year, we get calls in the spring about crabgrass. We know that our customer’s cannot have crabgrass in their lawn in the spring in Colorado, since crabgrass is a warm-season annual grass that does not show up until mid-summer. All too often coarse tall fescues, and many other nuisance grasses, are incorrectly identified as crabgrass. The term “crabgrass” seems to be a universal catch-all for any ugly grass growing in a lawn that is unwanted. But they are very different! Tall fescue is a thick-bladed, fast-growing and uncontrollable perennial grass that usually grows in clumps in the middle of a lawn. It is a darker green, perennial grass, which is seen throughout the season. Crabgrass typically germinates during the month of May and will show up in a lawn sometime around the middle of June or early July. Crabgrass is light green in color and usually grows in clumps on the edges of the lawn or in thin areas. Unfortunately, tall fescue is NOT controllable without killing the desirable grasses surrounding the tall fescue. Many people are often misinformed and are under the impression that crabgrass is only controllable with a pre-emergent weed control. Crabgrass is easily controlled after it has germinated by using Drive XLR8, a post-emergent crabgrass killer. Crabgrass can be killed without damaging your desirable grasses and the crabgrass will die between 3-10 days after the application. Crabgrass is an annual grass that germinates in June. It is best to treat this grass early before it spreads seeds. Coarse Tall Fescue is uncontrollable with selective controls. Only a non-selective weed control will kill tall fescue.

How do I kill coarse tall fescue in a lawn?

There is currently no selective control for coarse tall fescue. It is currently impossible to kill the coarse tall fescue without also killing the desirable grass in your lawn. If you do want to kill the coarse tall fescue in a lawn you can use glyphosate, but it will kill the good grass and there will be a dead spot. The dead grass can be removed and reseeded or sodded.

How to kill crabgrass in a lawn?

Crabgrass is an annual grass that will only grow in areas of the lawn that are thin, stressed, or bare. The best defense against crabgrass is a thick and lush lawn. If the lawn does get crabgrass, the most effective control is Drive XLR8.