Lawn Maintenance – Pre-Emergence Weed Control

The lawn weed, crabgrass is a warm-season annual weed, which means it reproduces by seed. People often ask me how to kill crabgrass. The short answer: applying pre-emergent herbicides at the right time is the best way to kill crabgrass.

To get rid of crabgrass, it helps to know its life cycle. When spring soil temps (at a depth of 2"-3") reach 55-60 degrees Fahrenheit, the first crabgrass seed will germinate. From mid-summer to fall, crabgrass produces seed. The crabgrass plants (but not the seeds) are killed by frosts in autumn.

Pre-emergent herbicides come in granular form and kill crabgrass seedlings as they germinate. Think of pre-emergent herbicides as forming an invisible shield across the soil surface that stops emerging crabgrass dead in its tracks.

Serving the Amery, Balsam Lake, Dresser, Osceola, St Croix Falls, Turtle Lake, Star Prairie, Frederic, Luck, Wanderoos, and Somerset areas.