Yard Care | Page 33 | The Platinum Board

Yard Care

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Yard Care

First off, try to figure out if what you're dealing with is actual crabgrass or one of the many other grassy weeds. That will help you figure out what you need. An ID app like Seek or ObsIdentify can help with that, although it might need to be somewhat grown out in order to work.
Would the treatment be dramatically different regardless?
 
Bifenthrin
 
Probably posted already, but I took over a yard with a bad crab grass problem. Any tips? Don’t think they did much for the lawn. Going to likely start the grass pad program in the spring
This to nuke it now

This to help keep it away in the spring

It might be too late in the season to try getting rid of it.....


AI answer
"Short answer: You can let winter kill crabgrass, but applying a post-emergent now may not be worth it this late in the season.




Detailed Breakdown​


1. Crabgrass life cycle


  • Crabgrass is an annual weed. That means it germinates in spring, grows through summer, and dies with the first hard frost.
  • Once temperatures drop consistently into the mid-30s, crabgrass naturally dies off, leaving behind brown patches.

2. Post-emergent timing


  • Post-emergents (like quinclorac or fenoxaprop) are most effective when the weed is actively growing in warm soil temps (above ~60°F).
  • By fall, crabgrass is already stressed and starting to die. Spraying now has limited effectiveness and could be a waste of product.

3. Best approach now


  • Skip the post-emergent. Let frost kill it off naturally.
  • Focus instead on overseeding and fertilization to thicken your turf before winter. A dense lawn next spring is your best defense against crabgrass returning.

4. For next year


  • Apply a pre-emergent herbicide (like prodiamine or dithiopyr) in early spring (when soil temps hit ~55°F for several days).
  • This stops crabgrass seeds from germinating. Timing is critical—it’s often aligned with when forsythia shrubs bloom in many regions.



Recommendation: Let winter finish off the crabgrass now. Start planning for a pre-emergent in spring and healthy turf practices (mowing high, overseeding, fertilizing) to crowd it out next season."
 
Would the treatment be dramatically different regardless?

Yes. For actual crabgrass, a weed killer with quinclorac is probably the easiest option. But quinclorac is ineffective against some other grassy weeds like bahiagrass, goosegrass, or dallisgrass.

Something else that doesn't get mentioned enough is what type your actual turf grass is. What works well for a St. Augustine lawn might kill a Kentucky Bluegrass lawn, and vice versa.
 
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