The winter weeds have been growing fast and it will soon be time for crabgrass seeds to germinate. Spraying winter weeds on a warm day (over 55 degrees) with a product labeled for use on these weeds will take a while to work, but should kill these winter weeds. Weeds like pennywort and wild garlic or onion that have waxy leaves may absorb the chemical better if the leaves are bruised first. This means walking on them to crack the wax on the leaves allowing the chemical a place to get through the wax and into the leaf.

Research has shown that if crabgrass has been a problem in the past year or two, applying a pre-emergence herbicide to kill the seedlings as they emerge works really well. Applying early, before the seeds begin to germinate, is much more effective than applying later. If you don’t have an issue with crabgrass, there is no reason to apply a crabgrass preventer.