St Augustine and crab grass

grnenvy – posted 10 August 2007 16:44

I have found a couple 2-3ft patches in my yard full of crab grass. Is it true that baking soda works on killing the crab grass and doesn’t hurt the St Augustine. Also how should I apply it.Thanks for any info

swflawn – posted 14 August 2007 05:22

Works best early in the morning when the dew is on the leave blades. You will have to do this often for best results.

grnenvy – posted 15 August 2007 05:40

Should I just sprinkle it on or do I have to make a solution. Thanks

quote:Originally posted by swflawn:Works best early in the morning when the dew is on the leave blades. You will have to do this often for best results.

hankhill – posted 15 August 2007 17:22

I tried some of the “crabgrass killer” powder that I believe workssimilarly to the baking soda but also has cinnamon in it. Since I hadused pre-emergent on my lawn, my target was not crabgrass butdallisgrass, a similar but perennial weed. Maybe I used too much, butit just seemed to kill whatever I sprinkled it on, weed & grass aswell.

My current approach for dallisgrass is just to walk around before Imow and pull any stalks up with their roots (reach down as far down tothe soil as possible so you’ll have the force to pull out the roots).

As for crabgrass, it’s gone next year if you use a preemergent. Iused 1 treatment of Dimension in March and haven’t seen a single plantin the area I applied it to. (For winter control I used Pre-M,applied monthly.)

grnenvy – posted 16 August 2007 10:03

Thank you

ElectricFlyGuy – posted 06 October 2007 21:17

Are you sure it isn’t carpet grass? You need to also put down a pre-emergant in JANUARY only. This way, the carpet grass is dormant and the seeds don’t re-germinate.I have heard that there have been good results with boric acid and also Arm & Hammer dishwashing soap.<<2 scoops to 1 gal. Fertilize with Scotts W/ Atrazine to make it healthy and help combat other weeds, etc. Thanx, Scott

quote:Originally posted by grnenvy:I have found a couple 2-3ft patches in my yard full of crab grass. Is it true that baking soda works on killing the crab grass and doesn’t hurt the St Augustine. Also how should I apply it.Thanks for any info

Paul Melichar – posted 23 October 2007 13:14

I have noticed a confusion in some forums between two types of grasses that are both called “carpet grass.”

One is a turf grass (axonopus affinis/compressus). The other is a weed that is also commonly referred to as carpet grass, but whose more appropriate name is “Blanket Crabgrass” (digitaria serotine).

This weed does not resemble the “crabgrass” that grows in the North, but is notoriously familiar to those of us who have St. Augustine lawns in Florida.

It is my understanding that this Blanket Crabgrass most often takes hold in lawns that are overfertilized and overwatered.