Crabgrass is a very difficult, stubborn grassy weed.
You can see it in the late spring, through the late summer.
Crabgrass is an annual grass that reproduces from seed. Germination is usually seen in April, or earlier depending on the temperatures. It can form a dense mat if it gets established in a thin area, and thin lawns are much more susceptible to it.
We control crabgrass with our two spring pre-emergent weed control applications. If you don’t get both of the applications, crabgrass could be a problem all summer. We can spot spray it in the summer, but once it has germinated and is established, it is very difficult to control. Because it is a grass, the material we use to spot spray it will temporarily yellow your lawn around it. With proper mowing and watering, your lawn will recover in several mowings.
You could see some crabgrass in the late summer when the pre-emergents begin to break down. (If we have an unusual amount of heavy rainfalls throughout the spring or summer, this could happen early.) In very late summer, especially in drought conditions, we don’t spot spray crabgrass, since the surrounding desirable grass would not have time to recover before it goes into dormancy for the winter.