Problem: Homeowners and professionals alike spend a lot of time and money trying to eliminate crabgrass from their lawns.  Numerous control products are widely available and are extremely effective at reducing crabgrass pressure in a given year.  Like most weeds, however, crabgrass can be an indicator of other problems with the growing conditions of your lawn.  These conditions must be corrected to achieve long-term crabgrass control.
Crabgrass is one of the most prevalent grassy weeds found in lawns in our area.  Crabgrass thrives in full sunlight and high temperatures and can easily out compete cool-season grasses under these conditions.  Crabgrass is in a group of plants known as summer annuals.  These plants have a life cycle of less than one year.  Summer annuals germinate in the spring, grow through the summer and die with the first hard frost in the fall.  These plants produce a tremendous amount of seed in the mid to late summer when the day length starts to shorten.  These seeds ensure next year’s crop of weeds but can also remain dormant in the soil for several years before germinating.  It is likely that if you have crabgrass in your lawn, it will be there next year too. 

Solution:
Weed management in turf grass can be accomplished in various ways.  Traditional methods include cultural management and mechanical and chemical controls.  Application of a pre-emergent Crabgrass Control in the spring will reduce the crabgrass population during the summer months by reducing crabgrass seed germination.  The primary and most effective weed control tactic in a lawn is proper mowing.  In fact, it has been estimated that regular mowing eliminates some 80% of weedy species.  Other cultural practices, such as regular fertilization, can further reduce weed competition by increasing turf grass vigor.  Open and week turf grass areas promote crabgrass infestations because of higher soil temperatures, which enhance germination and decrease competition.  The best defense against weed invasion is a thick, healthy turf.  This is particularly effective for annual weeds such as crabgrass that establish from seed every year.  A thick turf canopy can effectively shade the soil and reduce the number of seedlings that are able to establish.