What Does Crabgrass Look Like?

You can't control crabgrass if you can't recognise it. So what does crabgrass look like, and how you can get rid of it?

Crabgrass Pictures

Young crabgrass can look a bit like a sweetcorn seedling. But it rapidly spreads out into this typical crabgrass pattern:-

crabgrass picture

But it won't take long for this single plant to go on to produce a thick mat like this:

what is crabgrass picture

It will smother and out-compete pretty much everything else around it. Including your nice lawn grass.

If left alone it will grow much more upright, making a very dense clump with long leaf blades. It then sends out really tall seed stalks.

But if it's in your lawn and you mow it, then it will stay and spread lower. Mowing won't slow the growth though, and it will grow up faster than your lawn grass. Which doesn't make for an attractive lawn.

How To Get Rid Of Crabgrass

Crabgrass can be a real nuisance, and it is difficult to eradicate, but crabgrass control is not impossible.

A healthy lawn and good soil will go some way to holding back crabgrass. But if you're already fighting an infestation, then it's wise to go easy on applying fertilizer as the crabgrass will love the extra nitrogen you're giving it.

In which case it's time to get serious and go straight for my crabgrass killer strategy. It comes from fairly extensive testing of combining pre-emergent weed killer and post-emergent techniques for, hopefully, the ultimate crabgrass killer.

I wish you luck and patience in your battle against the crabgrass. And maybe it will help to know that in some areas of the world, crabgrass is pretty much the only grass that will grow - and then it's considered somewhat more attractive and desirable than bare earth.

Weed Killers - recommended chemical weed killers and the approach to using them.

Toxic Residue In Soil - it pays to be aware of not only the short term, but long term effects of weed killing products.