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Summer is the perfect time to enjoy your yard, with remarkable blooms and lush green grass. But there’s always that one unwelcome guest – crabgrass. This pesky weed can quickly take over your lawn, leaving it looking less than perfect.
But don’t worry – there are simple ways to deal with it. You could wait until winter and let it die off naturally, or you could pull it by hand or use chemicals to get rid of it. However, leaving it until winter could leave your plants almost lifeless, so it’s best to act fast.
In this article, we’ll teach you how to get rid of crabgrass in the summer, so you can enjoy a beautiful, weed-free lawn. But first, let’s learn about this troublesome weed and why it’s essential to get rid of it as soon as possible.
What You Need To Know About Crabgrass
Crabgrass (Digitaria) is a genus of plants from the grass family. It is an annual and perennial grass native to tropical and warm temperate regions. However, you can still see this grass in sub-tropical and cooler temperate regions.
Crabgrass is also referred to as fonio or finger grass. This grass thrives in warm and dry conditions. So, crabgrass would quickly visit when a garden is arid and unoccupied by other grasses or plants.
And like insects, crabgrass is greatly feared because it has the potential to drain nutrients in the soil while forming deep roots where ever it finds itself. Besides that, crabgrass is an invasive grass and would take over the garden if no grass or plant competes with it.
The scariest part is mowing the grass instead of lowering the problem, increases it, as the grass would spread its seeds in hundreds and thousands. Crabgrass is your garden’s enemy and must be treated as such.
So now, summer is here, and your garden can only remain beautiful without casting a glimpse on the crabgrass sitting amongst the grasses or the plants. You don’t want to have them there, but you must know how to eliminate them before they become messy.
Let’s learn how you can get rid of crabgrass in the summer!
How To Get Rid Of Crabgrass In The Summer
Zero your thoughts if you still believe it is challenging to remove crabgrass because although it is challenging to remove crabgrass, that does not mean you cannot get rid of it.
“This is summer, and the weather is hot; the grass would be more stubborn and very hard to pull.” You are right, but with the proper knowledge backed up with the best tools, you can be sure your garden will remain tidy for a long time.
So, are you ready to eliminate this ‘garden enemy’? Right, so let’s begin!
1. Get rid of the crabgrass by pulling it
You can get rid of the crabgrass by pulling the grass off your lawn. If the ground is too dry and makes pulling almost impossible, water the lawn so the soil is softer. It is easier to pull crabgrass in the early growth, but if not, there is always a way around it.
2. Use a tool to get deep roots
Crabgrass is a deep-rooted grass and would, without hesitation, invade any space it finds itself in. so, what do you do to get rid of the deep-rooted grass? Well, get the perfect tool that best fits the situation at hand.
Get a hand trowel, get any weed removal tool, or, to be specific, remove the stubborn roots with crabgrass removal tools. It would be easier to remove the grass with tools than get rid of it with hands, especially now that it is deep-rooted.
3. Avoid mowing your lawn
One of the mistakes some gardeners make is getting the mowing machine on immediately after they notice the uncanny interaction of the crabgrass in their garden. As much as quick response is needed, you must know that mowing the garden instead encourages growth.
In mowing the garden, you, without knowing, make the crabgrass spread its seeds and still form roots when you least expect it. For ideal results, avoid the mowing machine.
4. Deeply water your lawn one or two times per week
One of the main reasons crabgrass would grow in any garden is because of the dry soil. And since it is summer, it would occupy many gardens. Imagine going for a summer vacation with your garden unattended. You would come back to a joy-killer experience. Now that it is summer, try to increase your watering process.
Please don’t wait until the soil is dry to the core before you feed it with water. However, you should still water the garden. Watering has its unique effects, so try to strike a balance.
5. Get rid of the crabgrass in the summer with chemicals
You may ignore this if your plant’s life is at stake, but for anybody in dire need of seeing the lawn free from crabgrass and getting the right tools might be impossible. Try using chemicals; at least, it is a better option than mowing.
Note: this does not mean that you should not get your lawn leveled up by mowing, but you should slow down if you have this enemy in your garden.
Find the exact chemicals made for getting rid of crabgrass. It would take a little time to get it right at first, but if you use the wrong chemical, you might spend a long time trying to fix your garden and get rid of the crabgrass.
6. Use baking soda
Another effective way to eliminate crabgrass in summer is to use baking soda in your garden. Water the garden, and then sprinkle the baking soda on the crabgrass. Try not to mix the baking soda with anything.
Wait for a few days and check on the crabgrass again. You will notice that the crabgrass is drying up. Now you can uproot the dead crabgrass and destroy it. Ensure you feel the bare soil with another grass, so much so that the evil grass does not return.
What is the best way to get rid of crabgrass?
Generally, pulling crabgrass with the best weed removal tools is one of the most effective ways to get rid of weeds and regain your garden. But there are other ways too. You can get rid of crabgrass by hand; this is a good way.
However, there are more effective ways to get rid of stubborn weeds.
Many gardeners would also prefer to have them killed with chemicals, which often works, especially when you don’t have any grass or plant surrounding the crabgrass.
Conclusion
Getting rid of crabgrass is not easy, yet anyone can get rid of the stubborn grass and make the garden eventful. In summer, crabgrass would visit dry and unoccupied gardens, but will you let it be and wait until the wet season to get rid of it?
You have nothing to lose if you get rid of the crabgrass now; this detailed guide provides the most effortless and most encouraging information on how to get rid of crabgrass in the summer.
So, now you can boldly pick up those tools and get digging. We hope your garden is safe again!
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