| (NAPSI)-Crabgrass is big and ugly. It ruins your curb appeal and property value. You could have a beautiful home inside, but people driving by your house would never know it because the weeds send a message that you don't care about your property.
"Crabgrass spreads fast," says Bayer Advanced garden expert Lance Walheim, author of "Lawn Care for Dummies." "Just one weed can produce 150,000 seeds in a season. It only takes one seed to spark the growth of crabgrass."
Crabgrass grows when it gets lots of full, hot summer sun. If you don't do anything about it, crabgrass will choke out surrounding grasses and form depressions in your lawn. It'll spread even more next summer, especially if your area gets lots of rainfall. Once established, crabgrass will tolerate higher temperatures and dryer weather conditions than the good grass you want to keep.
"It's the weed that just won't quit unless you have a game plan," says Walheim. Here are some tips to help you deal with this pesky weed:
• Identify: Look for crabgrass when you mow your lawn each week. Knowing you have a problem is the key to solving it.
• Taller is better: Adjust your mower height upward. Taller grass means crabgrass seeds, along with some other weeds, will not germinate as quickly.
• Kill weeds before they spread: Attack with a weed killer at the first sign of crabgrass or other weeds. Bayer Advanced™ All-in-One Lawn Weed & Crabgrass Killer (bayeradvanced.com) kills crabgrass and more than 200 other types of lawn weeds such as dandelions and clover. (This product isn't registered in New York or Hawaii.)
• Water deeply: You need to irrigate your lawn long enough so the water can penetrate six inches into the soil. How do you determine that? Use a screwdriver or a narrow wooden dowel to probe the soil. It'll stop when it hits dry soil.
• Fertilize: Use a fertilizer to help your grass grow and choke out crabgrass and other weeds. Warm-season grasses, like Bermuda or St. Augustine, require fertilization in late spring. Cool-season grasses, such as Kentucky bluegrass and tall fescue, need to be fertilized in the fall.
Always be sure to read and follow the directions for any product you buy. That way you get the best results and the beautiful lawn you're looking for.
Crabgrass will choke out surrounding grasses.
Bayer Advanced is a business unit of Bayer CropScience LP. Bayer (reg'd), the Bayer Cross (reg'd) and Bayer Advanced™ are trademarks of Bayer.
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