Kansas City Landscaping and Lawn Care Ideas

I have great news! Crabgrass has been eradicated from the state of Kansas. Absolutely annihilated — every single plant! Not a single plant growing in anyone’s yard anywhere in the state or Kansas City. Ok — here is the bad news, this is not a result of any miraculous event or secret government work. Instead, since crabgrass is a warm season annual, it all died after the first hard frost.

However, there are literally billions of small crabgrass seeds laying in wait for the soil temperature to rise to 55 degrees for 10 consecutive days. Each crabgrass plant in your yard last year produced upwards of 180,000 seeds and flung them into the air. Even if you didn’t have a single plant in your yard last year — your neighbors did and they generously shared their crop of invasive weeds with you — guaranteed. Don’t worry though — you can outsmart the crabgrass and keep it from ruining your otherwise pristine yard. Here’s how.

The battle against crabgrass is two pronged. One uses chemical warfare to initially suppress the onslaught and the second uses good cultural practices to make your lawn uninviting and able to fight off the crabgrass gremlins before they get a chance to grow.

Before you can fight the enemy — you have to know the enemy. Crabgrass is perfectly designed to infiltrate and kill your lawn. It starts life as a near microscopic seed that can quietly sneak into your yard during the winter. There it lays in wait — for up to 7 years. Waiting for the ideal moment when all conditions are met for germination — moist soil, bathed in sunshine and warmed to 55 degrees. This small seed then quickly springs to life growing quickly — choking out your beautiful lawn. When summer gets here and your lawn is stressed and struggling to survive — crabgrass is flourishing — further choking out your lawn, constantly producing seeds that spread its menacing offspring onward and outward. This is until its Achilles’ heel will lead to an assured death at the first freeze — leaving bare spots in your lawn where next year crabgrass will return two-fold.

It may seem like a daunting foe, but you have some effective tools to use in defeating this crabby enemy. Crabgrass is most easily attacked when it is still a seed. By using pre-emergents, you can prevent the crabgrass from ever germinating. You can buy pre-emergent anywhere you buy turf fertilizers. There are several different types of fertilizers. Although they come in several different brand names they use one of three chemicals (Pendemethilin, Dimension or Barricade). Pendemethilin is your worst choice for your grass and for its effectiveness but the most common because of its cheap price. Dimension and Barricade are both good products which are considerably safer for your lawn and both can be very effective, if used according to the label.

Timing is the most important thing when using pre-emergents. The most precise way to time the application is to carefully monitor the soil temperature of your yard and when soil temp is 55 degrees at dawn — put down your preemergent. However, unlike me, I do not expect homeowners to be running out each morning before work to stick a thermometer in the ground to measure that day’s soil temperature. Many people rely on natural indicators such as when the forsythia in bloom — this can be a flawed method though. This point was emphasized this year when my forsythia was in full bloom mid-November — NOT the right time to be putting down a pre-emergent. In Kansas City, if you are not going to check soil temperatures, you should put down pre-emergent between April Fools Day and Tax Day.

By getting your pre-emergent down early you will have prevented any crabgrass from growing in your yard. You will then be able to focus on the more important cultural practices that will lead full, lush lawn — the best defense against all weed infestations is a thick, healthy lawn.

Crabgrass may be a daunting enemy — but it does not have a chance against the weapons available today. Because of how effectively crabgrass can be controlled, a lawn with crabgrass is a sure sign of neglect. Don’t let your lawn reflect poorly on you, use the tools available to defeat crabgrass before it begins.

However, there are literally billions of small crabgrass seeds laying in wait for the soil temperature to rise to 55 degrees for 10 consecutive days. Each crabgrass plant in your yard last year produced upwards of 180,000 seeds and flung them into the air. Even if you didn’t have a single plant in your yard last year — your neighbors did and they generously shared their crop of invasive weeds with you — guaranteed. Don’t worry though — you can outsmart the crabgrass and keep it from ruining your otherwise pristine yard. Here’s how.

The battle against crabgrass is two pronged. One uses chemical warfare to initially suppress the onslaught and the second uses good cultural practices to make your lawn uninviting and able to fight off the crabgrass gremlins before they get a chance to grow.

Before you can fight the enemy — you have to know the enemy. Crabgrass is perfectly designed to infiltrate and kill your lawn. It starts life as a near microscopic seed that can quietly sneak into your yard during the winter. There it lays in wait — for up to 7 years. Waiting for the ideal moment when all conditions are met for germination — moist soil, bathed in sunshine and warmed to 55 degrees. This small seed then quickly springs to life growing quickly — choking out your beautiful lawn. When summer gets here and your lawn is stressed and struggling to survive — crabgrass is flourishing — further choking out your lawn, constantly producing seeds that spread its menacing offspring onward and outward. This is until its Achilles’ heel will lead to an assured death at the first freeze — leaving bare spots in your lawn where next year crabgrass will return two-fold.

It may seem like a daunting foe, but you have some effective tools to use in defeating this crabby enemy. Crabgrass is most easily attacked when it is still a seed. By using pre-emergents, you can prevent the crabgrass from ever germinating. You can buy pre-emergent anywhere you buy turf fertilizers. There are several different types of fertilizers. Although they come in several different brand names they use one of three chemicals (Pendemethilin, Dimension or Barricade). Pendemethilin is your worst choice for your grass and for its effectiveness but the most common because of its cheap price. Dimension and Barricade are both good products which are considerably safer for your lawn and both can be very effective, if used according to the label.

Timing is the most important thing when using pre-emergents. The most precise way to time the application is to carefully monitor the soil temperature of your yard and when soil temp is 55 degrees at dawn — put down your preemergent. However, unlike me, I do not expect homeowners to be running out each morning before work to stick a thermometer in the ground to measure that day’s soil temperature. Many people rely on natural indicators such as when the forsythia in bloom — this can be a flawed method though. This point was emphasized this year when my forsythia was in full bloom mid-November — NOT the right time to be putting down a pre-emergent. In Kansas, if you are not going to check soil temperatures, you should put down pre-emergent between April Fools Day and Tax Day.

By getting your pre-emergent down early you will have prevented any crabgrass from growing in your yard. You will then be able to focus on the more important cultural practices that will lead full, lush lawn — the best defense against all weed infestations is a thick, healthy lawn. <!–[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]–> <!–[endif]–>

Crabgrass may be a daunting enemy — but it does not have a chance against the weapons available today. Because of how effectively crabgrass can be controlled, a lawn with crabgrass is a sure sign of neglect. Don’t let your lawn reflect poorly on you, use the tools available to defeat crabgrass before it begins.