“I have a crabgrass control product on my yard, isn’t that enough?” We wish that it was, but it is not. Here are a couple of tips to help to prevent crabgrass in your lawn even though you have a pre-emergent crabgrass control product on your lawn.
Once your crabgrass control product is applied to your lawn, you will have to water it in to activate it. After it is activated, a barrier is created on the top of the soil which will prevent crabgrass plants from growing. However, if your turf grass plants start to dry out, the crabgrass control product will start to breakdown faster than if the lawn was watered regularly.
Now that the crabgrass control is watered in, and you are maintaining the health of your lawn through watering, it is best not to disturb the soil under the grass. The barrier sits on the soil in the thatch layer. If the barrier is broken or disturbed, then there will be an opening for crabgrass to start to grow.
Crabgrass needs warm weather and an opportunity (or thin turf) in a turf stand. But the more care taken to control crabgrass, the higher the potential of success. A simple take-away is to maintain a healthy lawn. Make sure that throughout the year, your lawn is watered, fertilized, mowed properly, and cared for. Pests, including crabgrass, are a result of a weak lawn, not a cause of it.
You have to remember though, even if all these measures are followed, you can only do so much to prevent crabgrass from appearing in your lawn. There are many factors that go into crabgrass germination, and crabgrass is a feisty plant that wants to grow. So even with the utmost care, crabgrass may still germinate in your lawn.