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Light Green Plant Growing In Grass

10 years ago

My wife and I have moved into a new house about a month ago. Around that time I started seeing large areas of a light green grass type plant growing in our yard. It has started to spread rather quickly. It is in a few of the other yards but not very many. What is this? And is there a way to get rid of it in my lawn? I have considered killing the lawn and starting all over.

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Comments (13)

andy10917
10 years ago
Where do you live? Does the grassy weed prefer sunny areas or shady areas? Is it more pronounced near driveways or other places where the soil gets hot from contact with asphalt, concrete or bricks? It could be as simple as crabgrass.
dchall_san_antonio
10 years ago
Looks like crabgrass to me.

Where do you live?
What is your watering regimen (frequency and duration)?
What kind of grass do you have?
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CountryGravy77
Original Author
10 years ago
I live in East TN. It has rained a lot here. We are 20 inches over the normal amount of rain fall for the area. I looked up Crabgrass and it does look like that. I was thinking incorrectly that crabgrass grows in round patterns. The lawn is filled with many different types of grass. What should I do? It looks terrible. Is it possible to spray crabgrass killer on the lawn or will that cause significant patching?
kbinmd
10 years ago
You'll need to wait until the spring to get a pre-emerg down to begin to erradicate it. Search for crabgrass and you'll get 100's of threads with the info you need to get rid of it.
Good luck!
andy10917
10 years ago
Baloney. It is easy to beat now. Assuming that the underlying grass is TTTF, KBG, PR, or FF (and not Bermuda), then all you need is an herbicide containing Quinclorac. Ortho Weed-B-Gon Plus Crabgrass Killer is one, as is the whole line of "Drive" products. They work well if you stay with the instructions.

Make sure to follow up next Spring with a good Pre-M so this year's seeds don't create a repeat performance.

This post was edited by andy10917 on Fri, Jul 12, 13 at 9:41
CountryGravy77
Original Author
10 years ago
Should I apply the Ortho Weed-B-Gon Plus Crabgrass Killer using the hose attachment spraying it on all the grass? I was going to apply on a large part of the backyard to confirm all is good.
andy10917
10 years ago
ID your grass first, and don't expect a kill on mature crabgrass with a single treatment.
dchall_san_antonio
10 years ago
Your lawn will be prone to getting crabgrass every spring if you

1. have thin turf
2. water every day

If you have a fescue or rye grass lawn, those two grasses can become thin and will not 'densify' without the addition of more seed. The time to add more seed is in the fall when crabgrass seed is not germinating. But if you have a Kentucky bluegrass lawn, it will only become thin in the shade. KBG will spread to fill in thin areas left by fescue or rye. For that reason many people will mix 10% bluegrass seed in with their fescue or rye lawns. Then if/when the fescue or rye plants die, the KBG will fill in before you even know the other grasses are thinning.

If you have planted KBG in the shade, it will become thin, or if a tree matures and provides too much shade. Those shady areas should be seeded with fescue. And I should point out for southern readers, none of this advice applies, so stop reading now. But for cooler areas, fescue will work in the shade and any of the northern grasses will work in the sun.

As #2 above implies, don't water frequently in the spring or any other time. Weed seeds need frequent water to germinate. If you feel the need to water every day, you will be spending extra money on herbicide to kill the continual resupply of weeds. Furthermore if you train your grass to require water every day, and you go on vacation, when you return you can come back to a dead lawn.

So if you have a dense turf from the fall coming into spring, and you are only watering once a month along with infrequent spring rains, you should not have a crabgrass problem.
auteck
10 years ago
Crabgrass for sure. Look. For a product online called XLR8 or Q4 Plus, either will kill crabgrass without problems.
andy10917
10 years ago
XLR8 and Q4 Plus are both products containing Quinclorac. Q4 has other ingredients that are for broadleaf weeds that you may or may not want - but they do not target crabgrass. XLR8 is part of the "Drive" product line previously mentioned.

This post was edited by andy10917 on Sun, Jul 14, 13 at 9:44
auteck
10 years ago
Correct.

If you have crabgrass and broadleaf weeds, then use Q4. If only crabgrass, then XLR8. Be sure to use MSO (google it)
CountryGravy77
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks everyone for all the great advice. I will probably pick up the Q4. In a few weeks I'll post how well it went.
weigojmi
10 years ago
crabgrass, seeing it pop all at once as well, assuming my spring pre-m barrier is wavering...

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