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Crabgrass coming in/mow height

18 years ago

Hi, I am trying to go organic. My lawn was planted last year. I put down Organica brand fertilizer this past spring but I must have done something wrong as the crabgrass is really starting to come in strong. I was thinking about letting the lawn "go" (ie, not mow it). Will this be effective at crowding out the crabgrass or will it do more harm then good.

Also, I mow as high as my mower will go (about 4"). The lenght is about 5 days from seed at this height. I mow once a week (for the most part) and 1/2 the grass in the lawn is to seed. Is this OK or am I putting too much stress on the lawn. Should I change my mower height? I really do not have time to mow more often. Lawn appear OK otherwise.

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Comments (3)

yarddoctor
18 years ago
Dear Wianno

Thank you very much for your inquiry. Once crabgrass has germinated in a lawn, the mowing height is not as effective in crabgrass control (a higher height is good for preventing other weeds from germinating, including crabgrass as plants germinate all summer) of these plants.

I looked up the products you mentioned, and there is corn gluten meal in the product. This does have pre-emergence activity on crabgrass, but in my experience this product is not fully effective if it is the primary preventer of germination (if turf is thin, not well fertilized, lots of weed seed from previous years.) This is the challenging part of ÂorganicÂ lawn care Â the condition of your lawn before you start the process and your expectations.

A higher mowing height and not scalping your grass are always beneficial.

Again, thanks for the question and let me know if you have more.

Respectfully

Trey Rogers, The Briggs & Stratton Yard Doctor, YardDoctor.com
jamesbodell
Original Author
18 years ago
I realize organic takes a few years, so I am being patient. Maybe next year I will use straight Gluten?
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I am in the piedmont also, what a lot of people refer to as zone 7 but I don't believe in zones so I don't use them myself but the temps you mention are similar to here. I would never get to raise the height much because come september when the temperature plummets so does the growth rate of this grass and even with fertilizer I haven't been able to get a significant increase in height after cutting it short for the whole season. Nothing major bad has happened to it. Lost a little bit last year but it wasn't a big deal bad might have actually been from a late freeze. In this area, this is when the optimal growing time for Bermuda comes to an end. It will slow down and lighten up and the zig zag marks come next month then it's all over. So I hope you enjoyed it while it lasted.
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yarddoctor
18 years ago
Dear Wianno,

Thank you very much for your inquiry. I agree, a high rate of corn gluten would be appropriate.

Again, thanks for the question and let me know if you have more.

Respectfully

Trey Rogers, The Briggs & Stratton Yard Doctor, YardDoctor.com

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