A: When the weather has been acceptable, I have spent many recent summer afternoons pulling crabgrass from my front bed. The mat of roots sure is tough to get out of dry soil! Prevention is the best way to attack crabgrass. It is a warm season weed, so a properly timed preemergence herbicide in late February or early March will knock back much of the seed that overwintered. Quinclorac is the active ingredient in one that is effective.
Sound practices in managing your turf will keep the lawn lush, which can outcompete persistent weeds like crabgrass. According to UGA Extension, “Practices like withholding water until desirable turfgrasses exhibit initial symptoms of drought stress can reduce the establishment of annual grassy weeds. Raising the mowing height for tall fescue to three inches or higher will help promote turfgrass competition with crabgrass to reduce populations in spring and summer. While returning clippings is recommended to recycle nutrients to the soil, removal of clippings may reduce the spread of viable seed of crabgrass in late summer and fall.”
And if you’re able, there’s always hand pulling or raking. Get right at the center of this radial week to get much of the tough root system. If the area is just overtaken though, post-emergent herbicides like BioAdvanced Crabgrass Killer and Roundup Crabgrass Control are effective when applied in accordance with label directions.