A healthy turf is always the best defense against weeds. Make sure you have good amounts of organic fertilizer, leave the clippings in the lawn, apply some dry molasses if you can find it (great biological stimulator and does a nice job of repeling fire ants), and keep your bermuda cuts short. Of course, compost is always good, applied in the spring, if your yard is in pretty bad shape.

How big is your yard? Can you pull out the crabgrass by hand? I'm thinking one good late afternoon should do it, and if your Bermuda takes off, the Crabgrass will have a tuff time coming back.

I've been organic about 5 years and dont use any herbicide, not even CGM. The weeds are a little problem in the spring, but once my st. augustine starts taking off the weeds dont have a chance. My yard is doing pretty damn well now. Sure I spent several hours picking weeds a few afternoons in the Spring, but hey the weather was great.

Well I've never pulled crabgrass by hand but seeing all the clumps of it, it does look hard. Wouldn't I need to get the roots and all? How did you pull it up? I also have some wood sorrel which I pulled a few weeks back and it came back. Seems like a never ending war but I guess it takes work to do this organically. I just hope the bermuda can thicken up this season and come back strong next season.

Oh and my lawn is 1000 sq ft.

Heres a couple of pics of the lawn.

{{gwi:1102695}}

{{gwi:1102696}}

Crabgrass seed needs a fairly warm soil to germinate so if you can keep the soil your lawn grows in cool (high mowing helps here) those seeds will not germinate. A good, thick turf will cause any crabgrass that does germinate to grow more upright which then allows your mower to keep the seed heads cut off so more are not produced.

Sunfire,

Luckily a lot of mine wasnt crabgrass. I know those are one of the tougher ones to pull out. But I dont know what else to tell you. THere is an organic herbicide out there that is supposed to be designed specifically for crabgrass, and supposedly wont hurt your bermuda. If you're desperate, maybe give it a shot. The key ingredient is cinammon bark.

Here is a link. I am in now way affiliated with this product, just saw it in a newsletter I get from the Dirt Doctor.

http://www.green-living.com/crabgrass-killer---garden-weasel.aspx