A close look in areas where I have seen crabgrass (Digitaria sanguinalis) in the past couple of years reveals that seeds are already beginning to germinate. I see that there are one or two leaves up at this point. In the centipede lawn, it’s time to apply atrazine, a chemical that will kill newly emerged seedlings of crabgrass while preventing any seeds that haven’t emerged from being able to do so.

Another awful weed that is up right now is annual bluegrass (Poa annua). This weed has been growing most of the winter and may be very difficult to control. It grows best in compacted areas of the yard where the lawn grass is struggling to grow. It also grows well in areas that stay a little too damp for other grasses. In my situation, it is growing along the side of the driveway where the lawn gets walked on and the soil gets more compacted than it should. I’m going to try to pull most of them up, this month before they begin flowering. If I had so many that I felt I needed to use a chemical, atrazine and simazine are two that are labeled to control annual bluegrass in late winter or early spring.

Once the grass begins to grow the idea is to get a thick healthy lawn this summer so I don’t have issues with weeds next winter.