We have received calls and emails in the last week or so asking “What is going on- I have weeds and crabgrass that I have not seen since you started fertilizing my lawn.” “Did you change the formula of your fertilizer?” The answers are, yes, you are seeing more weeds, no, it’s not crabgrass and no, we didn’t change our formula.
Crabgrass imposter, Paspalum is not inhibited by pre-emergent crabgrass control.
One of the biggest problem weeds we are seeing is the Crabgrass Imposter, Paspalum. Paspalum, as you can see from the picture looks very much like Crabgrass but does not react the same as crabgrass when treated. There is no pre-emergent for Paspalum. As our customer’s know, The Greenskeeper does 2 applications of pre-emergent crabgrass control. We found several years ago under certain conditions, (like the sporadic yet very heavy rains) the barrier that pre-emergents form can be washed away. A second application assures that the barrier is in place through the entire summer. Paspalum, because it proliferates by both seeds and short rhizomes can not be controlled by a pre-emergent. The difficulty in eradicating this weed is that products used to treat these weeds should not be applied when a lawn is experiencing heat or drought stress as it can damage turf grass. And you guessed it, Paspalum thrives in those conditions.
The next weed we are seeing a great deal of again is Nutsedge. Like Paspalum, Nutsedge is a rhizome. While it does come up in established lawns, we
Typical nutsedge growth in healthy turf grass.
often see it in newer lawns or lawns where new loam has been brought in. Suddenly, it takes off like wildfire and the entire neighborhood is infected. Nutsedge does not respond to broadleaf weed control and a special product has to be used on this invasive weed. Like the products used to treat Paspalum, it is best to treat Nutsedge when lawns are healthy and not experiencing drought or heat stress. While there is no way to prevent weeds from infiltrating your yard, your Greenskeeper can not only treat weeds but improve the health of you lawn. A healthy lawn will rebound and fill in faster after a problematic season of weeds.
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