How To Get Rid Of Crabgrass

When you are planning to win the best lawn competition and realize that your lawn has been invaded by crabgrass your disappointment knows no bounds. Don’t lose all hope; there are ways to get rid of all that crabgrass in your lawn and still stand a fair chance of winning the completion. Before you go ahead with removing the crabgrass, you should know what it is. Digitaria or crabgrass is a common monocotyledonous forage plant and is found in a variety of species. These species have very little that differentiates them from other types of crabgrass and even then the differences are generally limited to the flowers and leaf pubescence. All the species of crabgrass have the same growth patterns too. Crabgrass generally grows in lawns that have sparse growth on them. It also grows on lawns that are watered lightly, not drained properly and not fertilized properly. It is an annual grass and germinates in the spring. Crabgrass is a pest that plagues not only the common man's lawns but also the farmers' fileds and vegetable gardens. Now that we know what crabgrass is, let us explore ways to get rid of it.

Tips On Getting Rid Of Crabgrass
The main thing you can do to get rid of crabgrass is to prevent it from growing in the first place.

The best thing to do is to make sure that you plant enough grass in your lawn so that there is no room for crabgrass to grow.
It would also be advisable to make sure you irrigate your lawn properly and have good drainage. If you allow the lawn to dry up before you water it again, crabgrass roots will fail to get a hold and grow in your lawn.
If you have just noticed the crabgrass and it is still very young, you can use pre-emergent herbicides on it. This herbicide helps because it can prevent the seeds from taking root and growing. Keep in mind that these herbicides work only on young crabgrass and are practically ineffective against fully grown crabgrass.
If you have more crabgrass than your grass in your lawn, you can use a post-emergent herbicide to kill the crabgrass. However, you should know that this will kill your grass too, so be sure that you use this method only as a last resort.
If the crabgrass has already taken hold and started growing, the best thing you can do is to weed it out by hand.
If there are bare spots in your lawns or fields, after you are done weeding out the crabgrass, you should waste no time in replanting on those patches.
If you are using a lawnmower to get rid of the crabgrass then make sure you have an attachment that can catch the cut grass too. This attachment will help prevent the seeds from falling back in the lawn and growing all over again.
Crabgrass can’t take root in the absence of adequate sunlight, so don’t cut your lawn grass as it will allow for crabgrass to get enough sun.
A novel way to get rid of crabgrass would be to plant normal grass that grows thick. Zoysia grass is the perfect example of one such grass. It grows so thick that it can easily choke any other vegetation around it, including crabgrass.
Since prevention is always better than cure, it is always suggested that you try and prevent crabgrass infestation rather than trying to remove it once it has taken hold.

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