How To Prevent Crabgrass In Your Lawn

This is a follow-up to my previous post on fixing your burned out lawn

I received this comment in my inbox today:

“I just read your blog on lawns. Well written!  My only question is, Will you come help me pull all of my crabgrass by hand?  Also, if I don’t get the crabgrass out now, what happens in the spring?  I  thatched and aerated this weekend.  I overseeded as well as put some lime down.  The lawn literally is a huge pile of crabgrass.  I seeded in the hopes that in the spring the grass would win out over the weeds.  Any suggestions?  – Dwight, Bethlehem, PA.”

Dwight: Thanks for the email.
Granted, pulling crabgrass by hand is pretty unrealistic if it’s running amok in a large lawn. If the crabgrass is really out of control like mine is, the best thing you can do is wait.

Fall frost will kill the crabgrass as it does many weeds. Early in the Spring, around the time Crocuses bloom, spread Corn Gluten Meal on your lawn much as you would fertilizer. Corn Gluten Meal is an organic pre-emergent treatment for weed seeds of all kinds. Unlike your lawn grass which grows via rhizomes and stolons, crabgrass goes to seed. Corn gluten meal interferes with the germination of the crabgrass seeds and most other weed seeds, but you must spread it very early in the spring before the seeds germinate. But don’t apply corn gluten meal if you’ve already seeded your lawn, as it will stop your grass seed from germinating as well – it affects all seeds. Add Corn Gluten Meal again in mid-August to take care of late summer weed seeds.

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If you use Corn Gluten Meal for a few seasons, you should notice less crabgrass and other weeds in your lawn. For an additional bonus, as the corn gluten meal breaks down, it’s a slow feed of nitrogen for your grass, just like commercial fertilizers. I know that waiting until Spring will be torture (it kills me to see my lawn now, too), but if you don’t make room for the grass by removing the weeds first, there’s little chance your grass seed will germinate or grow into healthy lawn. Corn Gluten Meal can be purchased at most nurseries and online.