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crabgrass in bermuda
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Author:  whitenerj [ Fri Jun 11, 2010 5:20 pm ]
Post subject:  crabgrass in bermuda

I have a lot of crabgrass mixed into my bermuda lawn. I would say 75% bermuda and 25% crabgrass. I fertilize with soybean meal every month and give my lawn 1 inch of water every week. Also I mow at 1 inch every 3-4 days. I can deal with the crabgrass knowing it will die at the first frost but was wondering if it would be best to kill it now or just let it go? I guess I have several thoughts on this starting with keeping my lawn mowed every 3-4 days to prevent seed heads. Would mowing this often keep the seed heads from coming up and producing more crabgrass next year? I will be using CGM for a pre-emergent this fall and spring with hopes of some help. I have some crabgrass killer from garden weasel which contains cinnamon but not sure if I want to go that route. I was hoping the bermuda would choke out the crabgrass but not sure if that will ever happen. Okay so what should I do? I'm open to suggestions and ideas. Thanks guys!!!

Author:  N2Organics [ Fri Jun 11, 2010 7:14 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: crabgrass in bermuda

I have had the same problem in my own backyard in the past. Weeds indicate a soil imbalance. My solution was to apply dry molasses, a 1/4 inch layer of fine compost, and drench with Garret Juice & Thrive twice per year. Once the soil is back in a good biological balance, weeds and fire ants move away because they no longer sense "plant distress" in the Bermuda. The process has taken about 1 1/2 years for me, but the result has been spectacular.

Here's a photo:
Image

This is what the area looked like before I planted Bermuda seed and did a property "detox" with activated charcoal:

Image

Organics works well! :-)

Author:  user_48634 [ Fri Jun 11, 2010 8:50 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: crabgrass in bermuda

Jimminy Christmas! N2, that's the most amazing transformation I've ever seen by a private citizen (not a professional landscaper)! How did you approach that project? Please answer in a new topic.

As to the crabgrass in bermuda, it would be best to kill it now so the bermuda has some hot weather to grow back. And it would be best to kill the crabgrass if it was all in one spot. Hope that's the case because this approach will kill the bermuda, too. The product with the cinnamon oil is the one you want. It uses baking soda as the active ingredient. Yes, I know the bottle says the cinnamon oil is the active ingredient, but just using pure baking soda kills crabgrass overnight. Unfortunately it also kills bermuda. However, the good news is the bermuda will come back slightly faster than the crabgrass will. And the crabgrass will die out completely in a few months. As long as you have bermuda trying to come back, you have a shot at keeping the crabgrass out next year. Keeping working on it and you can get it.

Author:  Kate's grandma [ Tue May 17, 2011 12:26 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: crabgrass in bermuda

A lazy uphill, upwind neighbor can damage even Bermuda growing in ideal soil!
(Add his massive amounts of chemicals washing down & my Bermuda didn't stand a chance against his crabgrass & weeds!)

Crabgrass seems to reseed no matter how short you cut it!

I've been experimenting with baking soda in the sections of yard that were too over run to hand pull & had some good & some bad results. The best results came from wetting grass, light dusting of baking soda, and a little bit more water. Then as soon as crabgrass turns black, I watered really heavy. It makes Bermuda look dead but with food & water it sprang back even greener.

The place I had the problem was where builder laid sod on solid red clay. I used too much baking soda & waited too long to flush it & had a completely dead spot for over a year.

Author:  EAnton781 [ Tue May 17, 2011 3:00 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: crabgrass in bermuda

Kate's grandma wrote:
Crabgrass seems to reseed no matter how short you cut it!


Dallis grass too. They just grow low, horizontal seed stems.

I've played with the baking soda method as well. My conclusion is that baking soda and related products will knock back established crab grass but will not kill it. I've found it effective only early in the growing season. Even the non-organic crab grass killing products only claim to kill crab grass when it has less than three shoots then only promises "control" once it becomes established.

Author:  Love My Garden! [ Tue May 17, 2011 4:15 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: crabgrass in bermuda

I agree with N2. We bought a house that had 1/4 of the backyard fenced off as a dog run for the previous owners' large dog. The entire area was blanketed in crab grass.

That area is where we do all our composting and, this year, we are also growing kale and green beans back there. There are only 2 small areas where I am still fighting crab grass, but these two places haven't had our good, homemade compost applied. Yet. :wink:

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