Crabgrass(?) taking over my lawn

8 years ago

My lawn has never been pristine, but this year I am seeing a lot more of what I think is crabgrass (see pic). I live in NJ and our soil is pretty clay-ish. I don't have a big budget for lawn care. Any advice on what I can do?

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Comments (5)

dchall_san_antonio
8 years ago
What is your watering schedule? How often do you water and for how long?

Do you know what kind of grass you have? When was it installed? Did you do any seeding in the spring?

How high/low do you mow?

Have you fertilized in the past year? If so what did you use and when?

For future pictures, they show up much better when taken in the shade or on a cloudy day. In the sun you get reflection of sun along with black shadows which makes the contrast crazy and difficult to see what you're trying to show us. Here's a picture taken in the shade just demonstrate.
I was trying to show the slight yellowing in the blades in the center of the picture.

Here's the same spot when the sun came out - shadows are from trees.
Anne Nap thanked dchall_san_antonio
Anne Nap
Original Author
8 years ago
Thank you, I'll take better pictures tomorrow.

Nobody really waters their lawns here, I guess we get enough rainfall. The lawn has just always been with the house, about 40 years. I'm not sure what kind of grass it is, but will try to figure it out. I'll assume whatever it is will be a mixture due to different seeding over the year. Recently (late June? )the lawn was cut too low because there was something wrong with the blade. We fertilized with Scott's Weed n Feed in May (late, I know).
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dchall_san_antonio
8 years ago
Good info. Feeding in May is perfect and not late at all. That is when everyone should do it - after the spring flush of natural, new growth is finished. Too many people force feed their lawns in March or April and literally exhaust the plant's stored resources.

Weed-n-feed is very hard to apply properly, so most people don't get the full effect. What we suggest is to use a good fertilizer when you need that and spot spray with a targeted herbicide when you need that. Broadcasting herbicide over the entire lawn is seldom needed, although in your case it might have been a good idea. If you still have broadleaf weeds after the wnf app, then it's because you did not apply right. It's often a 2-person job to do it right.

Cutting low is a problem. That opens the canopy to allow sunlight down to the soil where the weed seeds need it. Just let it grow back up. Set your mower height to the highest setting. Tall grass resists summer heat and drought better. Morph might have something to say about that.

Don't try too hard to figure out your lawn type. Some people know exactly what they have. If you have a mix, that's good enough. I would have thought that a mix would include some Kentucky bluegrass. In full sun that grass tends to fill in thin spots and choke out weeds. It could be that watering is a problem in general.

Are there times when you go 2-3 full weeks with no rain? Those could be a problem for a lawn that is used to getting rain for a day or two every week. We talk about deep and infrequent watering here. Deep mean 1 inch all at one time. Infrequent means once a week after temps get into the 90s and less and less often as it cools down. This type of watering almost prevents weeds because weed seed needs to be kept moist for a couple days to germinate. When you let the soil dry completely for several days, the new seeds cannot germinate.
Anne Nap thanked dchall_san_antonio
User
8 years ago
Right now in New Jersey (and my own Pennsylvania, on the NJ/PA border), rainfall has been pretty constant since June 1. Germination of weed seeds is not a problem, and they're germinating like mad everywhere.

May feeding is great; optimally, feeding should actually be around Memorial Day, or the end of May with no feeding applied before that. Your grass should have plenty of energy left over to grow during spring. The organic feeding answer would differ, but...

Second feeding of the lawn is Labor Day, or about a month from now. The (optional) third is October 1st. Then winterize (not optional) when grass growth stops for the year, but it's still green--for me, around Thanksgiving, but it changes year by year.

You probably have a standard tri-mix, although which grass(es) is/are dominant is anybody's guess.

So in this case, spraying with Weed B Gon Plus Crabgrass Control will help get rid of most of the weeds. You may need to hit it twice to kill all the crabgrass; mature crabgrass is a tough kill.

Next spring, a pre-emergent like Dimension 0-0-7 applied when the forsythia bloom will keep crabgrass sprouts to a minimum for some months. Stragglers can be spot-sprayed with the Weed B Gon.
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Anne Nap
Original Author
8 years ago
You guys are both wonderful. Thank you so much for taking the time to help me out. I really appreciate it.