# Help! crabgrass taking over my yard



## Steve1976 (Jun 25, 2009)

I recently put my house on the market. I've got the inside staged great, but my yard is a wreck. Crabgrass has taken over my front lawn. Is there any solution for this problem short of pulling it up?


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## slownsteady (Jul 10, 2009)

hard to grow new grass in july. there's always sod, if you think it's worth it.


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## ccarlisle (Jul 10, 2009)

Hmmm Tough question because where you live I'd say that growing grass is pretty much a shot in the dark type of situation and beyond that, I'd also say doomed for failure. I say this because you may well be in that transition are across the middle of your country where it is too hot for the grasses we have here (Kentucky bluegrass, ironically) and not hot enough for the real hot climate grasses such as bermuda
grass...so you're stuck in between. Put down KB and it'll croak from overexhaustion. Put down bermuda and it'll freeze itself.

What's more, the grass you have may not suit the next county to yours-  and vice versa so the best bet would be to ask your very local nursery what types of grasses grow best in your particular climate+soil and go from there.

Because what has happened probably is that the grass you had there has now died off and left the field open to crabgrass. That's a losing fight...If your house is for sale on top of that, then prevention of crabgrass would have started months ago, with an application of a preemergent herbicide like siduron, then the type of grass seed that is appropriate.

Your laws may be like ours: most herbicides like 2,4D have been banned completely, so we have to be extra careful in mowing, feeding and watering to make sure we have a healthy lawn to fight annual summer weeds like crabgrass. Good luck.


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## slownsteady (Jul 12, 2009)

Steve 1976:

So what's your objective at this point? Are you looking to make the yard appealing to home buyers, or trying to establish a lawn? I ask because if it's just about making it look presentable, then we might come up with a creative answer, like a field of flowers or a rock garden or something. How big an area are we looking at???


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