I fertilized two weeks ago. About a week ago crabgrass (at least what I think to be crabgrass) started growing in random spots in my yard.


I have fertilized twice this year. First time in April with Scott's Triple Action. Second time in early July with Scott's Turf Builder.


Yesterday I sprayed the crabgrass with Round-up crabgrass killer. However, this took forever just to get a small amount of it sprayed.

I was hoping the fertilizer I was using would prevent this, but it seems to have made it grow (am I crazy for thinking this).

Is there something I could apply to my yard that would work well or should I just call a pro to spray it.

I live in NE Ohio - not sure what type of grass I have.

 

Depending on your application rate of the pre-emergent in April it's pre-emergent herbicide is pretty much all gone now which is why you are starting to see crabgrass emerge now.

Scotts Turf Builder is fertilizer only. It does nothing to control weeds so "yes" you did fertilize the crabgrass. It's 34-0-4 fertilizer and in spite of their advertising you need to be careful applying such a hot fertilizer this late into the heat of summer. High nitrogen will kick your grass into growth mode which can stress the grass during hot weather. That rich green growth, while pretty, in hot summer conditions is a prime host for diseases like brown patch.

The Roundup Crabgrass Destroyer you also need to be careful with this time of year. It can be applied in summer but you should avoid the hottest and driest part of the season when your cool season grass may be struggling with the heat. Instead of buying the little sprayer bottles sold in home centers I would use a concentrate like Pylex which is the same active ingredient. You dilute it with water and can apply it with a pump-up pressure sprayer or tow behind sprayer which is much easier when covering a large area like a lawn.

 

Crabgrass is a season long battle. Starting with the preemergence in the spring then tackling the left overs through the summer.

The best solution I have found post preemergence is to get a spray bottle of grass killer, your choice, and every week just walk around and hit each individual plant.

If you can hit 30% per week after about 4 weeks you'll start getting the upper edge.

With the spot application you may get a dead spot including the crab grass but in a few weeks the surrounding grass will fill in!

Same concept for weeds, just a different spray bottle!

 

Thanks everyone. Where would you purchase Pylex from? I did a quick google search and the only results are costing over $280 for an 8 oz bottle. Is that really how much is costs?

 

you can also try Acclaim Extra ...also from Bayer and highly selective herbicide.
This is what I have been using and rather happy with it...

Topramazone (Pylex) is very expensive but that's highly concentrated product. ...

 

You have to look at how much you need to spray. The ready to use sprayer bottles sold at home centers are really only good for spot treatment. If you need to do your whole yard I'd be looking at a backpack sprayer and mixing my own herbicide from concentrate. Yes, some can be quite expensive but when you look at how much you need for your yard and how much you dilute the product it usually comes out to be considerably cheaper.