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Too late to apply Weed-B-Gone Max to kill crabgrass?

9 years ago

Crabgrass has taken over my lawn with a vengeance. One area of grass seems like it is almost all crabgrass. My lawn has also long suffered from creeping Charley; I have another area that just has a bit of tall fescue poking through.

The creeping Charley has been a problem for a long time but I'm looking to buy Fertilome Weed Free Zone to treat it.

The crabgrass did exist before, but it was no where near this bad. In the spring I broadcast spread Scott's with Halts. It's highly possible my timing was wrong. We had a lot of spring false starts this year (DC metro area). I really just want to kill the crabgrass NOW. Weed-B-Gone says to spray it on during the Spring. So is it too late to apply Weed-B-Gone this summer? Does crabgrass really die in the winter? Maybe I just need to apply pre-emergent next spring?

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Comments (6)

1111gd1111 3b NW WI
9 years ago
I don't think it's too late.. IMO the more you can do to knock down the CG the better. My yard is getting "Max'ed" in a couple of weeks.
mulchmama
9 years ago
Crabgrass is an annual and it will die with the first hard frost anyway, so let that guide your decision. If you're not going to overseed in the heavily infested areas, I don't see the point in killing something that will die in six weeks on its own.

You're right in asking if preemergent next spring is the solution to your problem. Yes, it is.

That said, there are other uses for weed killer in the fall. September and October are the best times to control winter weeds (annual weeds that germinate in the fall and flower in the spring, e.g. henbit) and perennial broadleaf weeds like dandelions.
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atgcpaul
Original Author
9 years ago
Do you want know when it will *actually* rain? The morning after I spray Weed-B-Gon is when! Sprayed the lawn last night and of course it rains this morning. This stuff is supposed to "rainfast" an hour after application. Let's see. I have the worst luck.
andy10917
9 years ago
I hope you folks aren't using WBG Max to kill crabgrass. There is a separate product "WBG Max Plus Crabgrass Control". It contains Quinclorac for crabgrass control. The standard WBG Max product does not, and will not control crabgrass.
atgcpaul
Original Author
9 years ago
Yes, mine had the CG control.
mulchmama
9 years ago
What makes these chemicals rainfast isn't any special ability to repel water. It's the fact that the plant takes in the chemicals through the foliage and transports it to the roots where it does its damage.That can happen real fast. It was probably "rainfast" less than an hour after you applied it, and it certainly wasn't hurt by rainfall the following morning.

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