you bought the garden weasel? I would try it out. See how it works.

Probably easier to prevent then kill. Corn gluten meal, not corn meal, applied in the spring when the forsythias bloom. It's also good source of N.

Al

I'll be following this thread closely as I have the same problem!

I'd really like to know how well the garden weasel works too, at 19.99 to treat 100 square feet, it should be pretty amazing!

I put corn gluten meal down in the spring this year, but I still have LOTS of very healthy crabgrass in my Bermuda (about 25%).

Does it really die at frost or just go dormant?

Nik

I've heard from the dirt doctor (howard garret) that findings are coming out that CGM are not as effective on healthy, organic soil that is biologically active. I think what it was saying that soil was so good that it broke down the CGM very quickly, thus cancelling its affect as an effective herbicide.

How well Corn Gluten Meal works as a pre emergent depends on when it is applied. Many people, after applying it at the wrong time (too late in the spring, during the summer, in the fall) will tell you it does not work. If applied about 6 weeks before the "weeds" it is supposed to control start to germinate CGM works quite well, but if applied after the "weeds" start to germinate, or much longer than those 6 weeks, it will not be very effective.
If you can keep the crabgrass you now have from producing seeds you will have less (depending on how many birds fly over after eating crabgrass seeds) crabgrass next summer. Most of us have the species of crabgrass that is an annual and since it needs soils of a fairly warm temperature with the right amount of moisture to germinate working on getting your grass to grow in thick to help keep the soil cooler will help keep that from happening.

I agree with the preemergent method. Because I spread some corn gluten back in February only on my front lawn, it has significantly less crabgrass than my back yard or vegetable garden. So while it does work, like kimmsr said: timing is everything. Spreading CGM in fall will take care of some of your cool season weeds that may be waiting to germinate but if you are more concerned about crabgrass, do it just before the forsythias bloom in late winter early spring.

Oh ya, and while mowing frequently may help, from my experience, the way crabgrass grows more horizontally than vertically you are going to miss a lot of seed heads.

Oh, I put my CGM down on April 6th, some forsythia was still blooming then. I didn't realize its supposed to be put down just before it blooms...ah well, next year