Is anyone else having an especially bad year with crab grass? My beds are just filling up with crab grass -- I've never seen anything like it. Everytime I walk outside I get distracted from what I am doing by the crabgrass. It seems like the more I pull up, the more comes in overnight. I swear it grows 6-8 inches in a day. Is there anything you can spray on crab grass without hurting your plants?
Crab Grass
YES! Everytime I walk out to my flowerbed it seems like it's being overtaken! The other weeds seem worse this year, too.
I discovered this week that DH didn't "cook" the birdseed before putting it in the feeder. We have more crabgrass than we have had in 40 years! I could just kill him! Well, not literally. Do you have a bird feeder? We found out last year that if we cooked the birdseed for 30 min at 325 degrees it killed the germinator and we didn't have a weed problem. Only takes one time to spread the dreaded seed.
Christi
trunnels I have the same question no matter what I do ti is the same pulling doesn't seem to help with the crab grass or any of the other weeds
You could use Roundup, and that would do the job. Edit, but of course you would have to be careful of surrounding plants. An "over-the-top" spray, something like ornamec, might also work. (over-the-top sprays tend not to affect most broadleaved plants, but as always, read the label, because there are some exceptions). However, I find crabgrass is easily enough pulled, and it doesn't take much more time to pull it than it does to spray it.
I don't get much except sometimes along the perimeter of unedged beds where the mulch may be a little thinner. It's an annual weed (you may already know this) and keeping it pulled before it has a chance to go to seed helps immensely to keep it under control in subsequent years, IMO.
This message was edited Jun 5, 2008 4:24 AM
if the ground is wet it is easier to pull here for some reason it really likes to be tough if not but hen with the sand we have the top of the ground gets hard.
but then this is my first year gardening down here so I figure next year it will be less a problem.
i also noticed an increase in weeds this year--and some that are different from what i had before--impossible to keep up with!
We've had an extremely windy year this year, and the wind and the birds often come bearing unwanted gifts. We used a weed killer without anything in it for pre-emergence. Can't remember the name, but I bought it at Dennards.
"eyes"
funny you should mention the wind because that is what i was thinking-as it whips around today--thinking maybe the wind is bringing weed seeds---i have had a tomato and a squash show up where i didn't plant them too--
It's so hot and dry around here that even some of the weeds are going dormant...not all, of course. I'm just watering trying to keep my garden alive. It feels like July instead of June.
Checked wunderground.com this morning and we are 10 degrees above normal everyday already. Last year it rained everyday. Hard to know how to garden.
Christi
Crabgrass is one of those grasses that will return if any root nodes are left in the ground. Nasty stuff that spreads like wildfire. I'm always picking it out of my potted plants. It's one of the first weeds that pops up when you water.
This message was edited Jun 5, 2008 2:36 PM
Sounds like I'm not the only one with this problem this year! I have never had an issue keeping the few weeds pulled. Now, if I'm not pulling every day, I just can't keep up! I agree that the wind probably has a lot to do with bringing it into my yard. Christi, I don't have a bird feeder but that is good to know about cooking the birdseed first. (I'll be sure and tell my Mom who has many feeders!)
We had been paying exorbitant prices at Wildbird for seed that wouldn't germinate. Then someone told us the secret.
Very good secret!
"eyes"
Hey Terri! Nice to see you back around.
Not much to add to what everyone else has said. I have noticed alot more crab grass in certain areas this year, but I put a thick enough layer of mulch in my beds that their has not been much of a problem there. Roundup will kill it though.
Hi Staci! Nice talking to you, too! Trying to hang out here as much as possible but life has it's little interruptions. :-) I have been afraid to spray the roundup but if the wind every quits blowing, I might try it in my beds. I know you don't like iris but I just ordered some beauties from Dori's coop with Bleek and plan to load up on Roundup to make a new iris bed. John is going to kill me for taking up more of the lawn!
Yep, but I was surprised how much I enjoyed a named IB iris that bloomed for the first time for me this year. I had received it as an extra in a daylily trade a couple years back. And my neighbor's Tall Bearded Iris that she picked up at a Iris farm in Missouri were beautiful when they bloomed. I might even get a couple to mix in with perennials when I build another bed. :)
I don't like using the roundup either and very very rarely use it. I don't use it on anything but Johnson grass and crabgrass that comes up in the wild area down by the creek. I wait until it's tall enough or wide enough to limit any hitting the soil and soaking in (fear of hurting the worms, frogs etc) and just carefully spray the leaves. I also pour it in one of those compressed air type pump sprayers and get very close to the leaves. It sprays a fine enough spray that it won't drip on anything around it.
The roundup I have is actually in one of those compressed air sprayers. I didn't use it though. Instead, spent a couple of hours the old fashion way: on my hands and knees. :-)