The best strategy for treating crabgrass in the fall is to mow often to keep it from going to seed and wait for it to die with the first frost.
Fall lawn treatment for crabgrass.
Because crabgrass sets seed throughout the growing season it s worth the effort to apply a pre emergent herbicide to prevent any late season released seeds from germinating.
All lawn weed herbicides are not made the same.
Some will kill your regular grass and other common weeds.
Scotts is a leading manufacturer of consumer lawn garden and pest control products.
Crabgrass plants will be killed by frost in the fall leaving behind bare spots.
Though it s a standalone product the manufacturer does recommend using microyl crop oil replacement along with it to increase the effectiveness of the herbicide.
The best treatment for annual bluegrass and crabgrass is a crabgrass preventer a pre emergent herbicide that combats grassy weeds and can be applied in spring or fall.
The company designed halts crabgrass and.
Prevention is the best cure when it comes to eradicating crabgrass.
If you miss a spot crabgrass can get established and then spread to the rest of your lawn.
It is designed as a selective chemical killer so it only targets the crabgrass and not your turf.
If you already have a crabgrass infestation then a chemical treatment may be necessary to tackle the problem.
You ll also want to water deeply but infrequently.
Postemergent herbicides are ineffective after mid july advises purdue university extension.
Crabgrass is tough to kill and reproduces very effectively.
Crabgrass can be managed in several ways.
Use a post emergent herbicide labeled for crabgrass.
If you ve got mature crabgrass in the lawn you can use this product.
Unfortunately the best time to control late summer early fall crabgrass is to go back in time and deal with it in the spring with a pre emergent herbicide like our 13 0 5 fertilizer crabgrass preventer along with mowing right watering right and fertilizing right.
Regular mowing serves as a natural crabgrass preventer choking many weeds.
Instead water lawns deeply to a depth of 6 to 8 inches and infrequently to encourage your lawn to develop deeper roots so it can grow thicker to help crowd out weeds.
Do not de thatch or aerate the lawn after applying the herbicide.
If you live in a colder region fall is the best time to plant new grass seed as frost kills crabgrass seedlings.