Baseball Infield

dammit123 – posted 30 August 2011 22:10

Working to save my infield from a large amount of crabgrass. Let me know your thoughts:

Hit it with Q4 on 8/23 which has turned a lot of it brown, though can’t tell if it is really dead or not.

1. Should I spray it again before I go to the next step?

2. Started pulling dead stuff out, but no way could I get it all done by myself. Will hitting it with a de-thatcher/power rake get a lot of the crabgrass up?

3. Is this the next, correct steps: mow low with a bagger, de-thatch, vacuum up the loose stuff, water, (maybe aerate), slice seed, then put on fertilizer? Should I put topsoil down anywhere in those steps, and if so, where?

Thanks for any help you can give.

Mike

MA_Turf_Dave – posted 04 September 2011 04:10

Hi,Nothing now will stop crabgrass. It is great as a competitor. Do all you are doing and work to top seed or reseed your lawn to build thick turf. Next spring/summer you have to attack the seeds before they sprout. BTW I have an area that seems to be a crabgrass farm. It is smooth crabgrass.

MA_Turf_Dave – posted 04 September 2011 19:42

ST: Top Dress Last, Wet those seeds for 2wks

I chose Aeration rather than a seed slitter since Aeration got better reviews.

Pulled a lot of my crabgrass in this one area of my lawn (Hated it for time). Then mowed with a bagger a bit lower and then pulled some more as it became obvious. After Aeration before seeding I pulled even more obvious plants to make holes for the turf grass seeds (What a competitor is this crabgrass)

After seeding, starter fertilizer and then constant watering to keep the turf seeds wet.

Now I should and may still top dress this area with 1/4 inch of weed free compost or soil yet not sure if I will get to it.

Anyway I have next spring/summer as a watch period to kill the 10,000’s of seeds in the lawn in this area already from the crab grass. I will probably try to kill the seeds twice