Pre-Emergent Crabgrass Killer

About Pre-Emergent Crabgrass Killers

Pre-emergent herbicides prevent crabgrass from growing in your yard. The active ingredients attack crabgrass seeds while they are still underground and prevent their development, so they do not sprout above the ground. Since these products work underground at the time of seed germination, timing is key when applying this product. If your lawn is sparse with bare spots, it is more susceptible to crabgrass infestations, so don’t forget to focus on a healthy lawn in conjunction with your crabgrass control.

How To Use Pre-Emergent Crabgrass Killer

These products are a little bit trickier to use than your standard post-emergent crabgrass killer, which gets applied directly to the crabgrass in your lawn. You must anticipate the weather, ground temperature, and other factors in order to have successful crabgrass control.

• Choose a product that will work with your existing lawn. Not all products are made to be used on all types of grass, and grass seeds and some bulb plantings can be damaged if not the correct formula. Simply read the labels to make sure it can be used on your type of lawn and to check what plants the product could damage.
• Once the soil temperature reaches 55 degrees Fahrenheit for at least three consecutive days, crabgrass seeds will begin to germinate. This is the crucial time to apply a pre-emergent.
• It is also important to know whether you have a warm or cool season lawn. Early spring applications are essential to success, so in warm season lawns, timing is usually February through March. Cool season lawn application is a bit later, in March through May.  The main thing to remember is the soil temperature. Lawn care schedules can be helpful to reference for all your lawn care throughout the year, and also help to identify what type of lawn you have. But, depending on the particular season, you will have to play close attention to soil temperature.
• Most pre-emergent herbicides are granular products, and should be applied with drop or rotary spreaders that are commonly used for fertilizers.
• These products should be timed near an immediate rainfall, or the product must be watered in directly after application, so it can be penetrated into the soil to reach the germinating weed seeds.