Crabgrass or Crap Grass?

 Everyone loves a lush green lawn, but it can be a battle. The beautiful Kentucky Blue is easily invaded by other, more aggressive and less desirable grasses. The most common complaint I hear is that Crabgrass is taking over. Crabgrass has become a generic term for almost all invading grasses and in the grass world, it is what Kleenex is in the facial tissue world. It doesn't matter much if we call facial tissue Kleenex, but in the world of grasses, we need to know what we're talking about if we hope to maintain a lawn we can love. 

Crabgrass doesn't deserve its reputation. I have another generic name for uninvited grasses; I call them Crap-Grass. But they all have a name and their own characteristics; let's talk about grass.

:  Let's start with CRABGRASS. It is spring/early summer and Crap-Grasses are showing in the lawn, but Crabgrass is not one of them. Crabgrass is an annual. It propagates itself by seed; as many as 75,000 from a single plant. Germination occurs when summer is well underway. The plant is low growing and looks like crab legs stretching across the ground. Because it is an annual, it is one of the easiest to control and prevent. If it is not allowed to go to seed, it won't return. A pre-emergent, such as Preen, will kill the emerging plants in the germination process, making Crabgrass control relatively easy.

All the other grasses we will talk about are perennial and that makes them more difficult to deal with.

  ORCHARD GRASS is a term for one of many CLUMP GRASSES. They are denser and faster growing than lawn grass. When a clump appears in the lawn, there are two ways to get rid of it; dig it out or spray it. Both methods will also kill the lawn and require new seed or sod.

 BENT GRASS first shows up as a small patch of fine bladed grass that has a blue-gray tint. When you first see it, that is the time to take care of it; it will only spread and kill all other grasses. I am guessing that it gets its name from its tendency to bend and lay down in a tight mat. The only way to keep it mowed is to cut it less than an inch. This grass is great for putting greens where it is mowed at less than a half inch. 

 NUTSEDGE grows faster and taller than the lawn. It gets its name from the tiny nut-like tubers from which it grows. Where possible, it is best to dig Nutsedge. You may be able to pull up the roots with the plant but pulling will dislodge the small tubers and start a new crop. 

  

 COUCH GRASS has many common local names. I've always known it as Johnson's Grass; possibly named for the person that introduced it to the area. It was brought in to stabilize ditch banks and is now one of the worst and most invasive weeds we contend with. It is almost impossible to remove by chopping and/or pulling. If just a small piece of the root is left, it will grow. The roots are needle pointed rhizomes, capable of piercing through semi-solid objects such as a piece of wood or a potato and can travel several feet in one season. Couch grass is a common lawn invader. Its blades are 3 or 4 times the width of lawn grasses and much more course. Spraying is the only effective defense that I know of.