10 Best Crabgrass Killers 2023 Reviews

We see lots of budding flowers, green grass and blossoming trees when spring arrives. But apart from them, we also observe the growth of sprouting weeds which come with the growth of all  our new plants. These newly grown weeds are very frustrating and unwanted to all the garden owners. These are not actually harmful but they can  interrupt the growth of other plants and it doesn’t look good.  The seeds of the crabgrass mostly germinate during summer and spring as these weeds grow annually. The soil temperature requirement for these seeds are around 55-65 degrees Fahrenheit  at a depth of almost 3” for 5 days consecutively.

Crabgrass gets growing whenever it finds bare soil, sunlight and water. Crabgrass only becomes ugly when it spreads seed. Crabgrass can be killed by cold winter and till next year seeds remain intact.  Crabgrass Killers are those products  which are designed to kill these crabgrass by seizing the growth of their germinating seeds. There are many different types of crabgrass killers present according to the conditions of your plant.

Crabgrass cannot be killed with any normal chemicals, as there are proper chemically made liquids to kill them. These crabgrass killers are herbicides which affect the weeds and stop them from growing. Crabgrasses are very unfavorable to the owners and they start growing anywhere through their seedlings and thus make the area look very untidy and covers many of the beautiful looking plants and many walkaway areas. They grow vigorously in hot and summer conditions. Before dying in cold conditions they had already produced many seeds which germinate and form new crabgrasses.

There are many crabgrass killers which show their affects in different ways and affect these weed’s growth. Some crabgrass killers kill the weeds down from their roots and stops the presently growing crabgrasses and there are some other crabgrass killers which kill the seedlings of the crabgrasses due to which the growth of all the crabgrasses in future is inhibited and thus it gives a complete protection to our garden and our desired plants.

Some people also kill crabgrasses by taking out them with their hands but this is a very tiring and time taking task and it may not also be a very good solution to kill crabgrasses as their original reason for growth still remains there and they will continue to grow again and this method also don’t remove all the crabgrasses completely.

We should regularly provide necessary fertilizers to our plants as they help to make them lush and thick and thus leaves very less space for crabgrasses to grow. Compared to other lawn grasses, weeds are adapted to adverse conditions in a much better way. Less watering to the grass will result in very shallow and infrequent root growth which will make them suffer during summer or spring season and this will give a chance to the crabgrasses to expand their growth.

Thus, regular watering to your lawn grass is necessary so that the root growth of your plants will be deep and frequent which will not give a chance to crabgrasses to get in the areas. Crabgrass killers are very important to maintain our lawn grasses and make them thick and dense.

Top 10 Best Crabgrass Killers

1. Southern Ag Surflan A.S. Specialty Herbicide Pre-Emergent Herbicide with Oryzalin, 8oz Southern Ag

It is a great product to control weed seeds. It can be used over both turfs and ornamentals. You can water it immediately or can wait for 21 days. It lasts upto 4 months at only 1.5 oz per 1,000 sq. It contains almost 40.4% Oryzalin which is 4 lb. Surflan per gallon. This product can be used on various areas like landscape ornamentals, industrial sites, established warm season turf, non-cropland and different non bearing trees and vines.

It is a selective pre emergent herbicide which controls and kills many crabgrasses and broadleaf weeds.

The rate with which it can spread on land are

• Ornamentals-: 1.5-3 oz. per 1,000 sq. ft.
• Turf-: 1-1.5 oz. per 1,000 sq. ft.

After applying it, don’t reseed for 100-120 days to let it affect all the plants and the complete area.

2. Quinclorac 75 DF Selective Herbicide Equivalent to Drive 1 Lb

This product acts as a great crabgrass killer as it is a water-soluble herbicide which comes in the category of selective post emergent herbicide. To protect the tolerant turf species including desired plants and grass from crabgrass and broadleaf weeds, this product is very useful.

It controls many crabgrasses and weeds from harming our plants on turf grasses on residential and commercial grounds. The foliage and roots of the weed absorb this product and let it spread throughout the weed. Those crabgrasses which have been treated will start showing some signs of new behaviours like their stem and leaves start curling or twisting, stunting and we even observe a change of colour from green to white after which it dies. To increase the effect of this product, methylated seed oil surfactant is very useful and recommended.

3. Weed Killer Herbicide Gly Pho-sel Pro 41% With Surfactant 2.5 Gals Mks160 Gals

This is a Multi purpose total vegetation crabgrass killer. It is used by many professional homeowners and landscrapers as it is a very fast acting systematic weed killer.

It contains 41% glyphosate and 15% surfactant which helps in fast and efficient crabgrass kill. It gets into the roots of the crabgrasses and affects their growth. The glyphosate work more efficiently with surfactant, so there will be no need of any other separate surfactant.

The results after using this product will be visible within 1-2 hours . For the crabgrass to completely die, it will take almost four days if they are annual weeds but if they are perennial weeds, it can take upto one or two weeks for the same.

This product mixes easily with water and has very low odor. It has a very low use rate. It is also very economical to use as only 1-2 oz. per gallon of water is required. To kill some hard or perennial weeds, it may be required to take 2-4 oz. per gallon of water.

4. RM43 43-Percent Glyphosate Plus Weed Preventer Total Vegetation Control

This product is very good and ideal for gravel paths, fence rows, sidewalks, parking areas, driveways and also around barns many farm buildings. You need to spray it once in your garden or lawn and that will be enough to help you kill your crabgrass for almost one year. The concentrated mixture and chemical of glyphatose and imzapyr is useful and very effective against many harmful weeds, vines, grasses and other plants. While spraying it, you need to make sure that you don’t spray it on the root system of desirable plants and grass of your lawn.

This product treats almost 4,324 sq. ft. area. It kills all the crabgrass and prevent their growth for almost an year. It can be used on bare ground but should not be sprayed on the areas where vegetation is desired.

5. Ranger Pro 41% Glyposate Generic 2.5 Gallons 735754

This is a great professional crabgrass killer which is a  post emergent herbicide. The Ranger pro brand is cheaper than Roundup pro but still its almost same effective as the latter one. Its generic roundup can kill most of the crabgrass and weeds. It also has surfactant so there will be no requirement of external surfactant and it is also water soluble liquid.

It is a crabgrass killer which goes in the plant through the foliage point to the root system and thus makes it highly effective in killing weeds. Later on, it is absorbed by soil and gets broken down naturally which makes it not to spread through the ground and thus it does not harm or kill other neighbouring desirable grass or plants.

6. Primesource Quinclorac 1.5L Select (Drive XLR8) Liquid Crabgrass Killer

This crabgrass killer is a selective, post emergent herbicide. It can be used to apply on many lawns and fields to affect the growth of crabgrass and weeds. It can be applied before seven days of seeding process and upto twenty eight days after the undesirable weeds have finally grown. The effect of this product can be increased by using methylated seed oil. It controls the growth of crabgrass for 90 days.

It can be used on both residential and non residential lands. It mostly work on broadleaf weeds. It never harms our turf and is mostly used for cool season turfgrasses. It is also used in conjuction with seeding or overseeding.

7. Quali-Pro Prodiamine 65 WDG (Generic Barricade 65 WDG) (5 lbs)- Pre-Emergent Herbicide

This product is used for killing broadleaf weeds and crabgrass. It is a pre emergent herbicide and one of the best crabgrass killer, it is a very flexible product and can be applied in both seasons of spring and fall and can show its affect for controlling crabgrass for a long term. It can be used to control spurge, bluegrass, witchgrass and can be used safely by not affecting turfgrases of lawns which are desirable.

This product is non staining and can be applied by mixing with other fertilizers and iron solutions.

8. PBI/Gordon 652400 Speed Zone Lawn Weed Killer, 20-Ounce – Brown/A

This product contains many active ingredients like that in Speedzone Red gallon. It is a crabrass killer which is a selective post emergent herbicide with an excellent cool-weather performance. It can be used to throw out all the troublesome grasses and weeds with the established cool and warm-season grasses.

The spray solution which we will make to use on the grass should have a pH above 5 and below 8. This product can be used on ornamental, institutional and residential sites and also some non crop lands. 1 Oz. per gallon of water is required for 1,000 sq. ft. area of land.

9. PBI GORDON 2,4-D Amine Weed Killer, Gallon (8141072)

This crabgrass killer is very economical as it is not too expensive according to the outcome it shows on its use. It control all the crabgrasses and broadleaf weeds in the areas where we want our desirable plants to grow. This product has a very concentrated 2,4 D herbicide formulation and thus it can be used after mixing it with other products.

It can be used on industrial sites, fencerows, right of way and many other areas. It requires almost one gallon of this product’s solution to cover 174,240 sq. ft. area of land.

10. Tenacity Turf Herbicide – 8 ounces

This Tenacity herbicide is very useful both as pre emergent and post emergent herbicide. It controls almost 46 crabgrass and broadleaf weeds . It has an important ingredient called, mesotrione which comes from a naturally occurring compound produced by a plant, named, Callistemon citrinus. This attacks the crabgrass and all the unwanted weeds and inhibits their photosynthesis process due to which their growth stops. It gets absorbed by the plant through their roots, leaves and stem and get spread throughout the plant body through translocation.

It controls all the weeds during seeding period and thus reducing the  germination competition and thus no new grass gets flourish.

How To Choose the Best Crabgrass Killer

Depends on When You Are Using Them

There are many pre emergent herbicides or crabgrass killers which prevent the emergence of crabgrass plants in summer from the soil. You need to apply these products before the occurrence of crabgrass germination which usually happens in summer or springs. There were many researches including a purdue research which has shown that these herbicides can work and be applied in the cold winters also and they can still be as effective as they are in summers.

Prior to crabgrass germination, these herbicides should be applied in early springs as it is necessary to properly affect those crabgrasses otherwise they will not be so effective and crabgrass will grow. Sometimes, these crabgrass killers or preventers are also combined with fertilizers and sprayed on the lawn grass. We know that, there should be minimum fertilization during springs, so you should buy those products which contain lots of nitrogen in forms of slow release such as sulfur, methylene ureas or polymer coated areas. Those products which have more than 70% of total nitrogen and have quick release nitrogen such as urea or ammonical nitrogen should be avoided mostly.

Those crabgrass killers which are pre-emergent herbicides should not be used before seeding the lawns or on newly seeded lawns. But if your product contains siduron, you can use them in these conditions.

Understanding the Cycle of Crabgrass

After applying these pre-emergent herbicides, we need to water them regularly using proper irrigation facilities or even rainfall can work as this will make them more effective. To choose the best crabgrass killer for your lawn, you need to understand the cycle of crabgrass with which it grows and the kind of plants and grass you grow in your lawns or gardens.

When crabgrass sprouts emerge after the germination of seeds, pre-emergent would no longer be useful and we will have to shift to those herbicides which kill these existing crabgrass and they are post emergent herbicides. These crabgrass killers kill all those actively growing and existing crabgrasses so that they don’t produce more seeds. While using any crabgrass killers, its necessary to understand the type of your product. You need to know whether it is a ‘selective’ or ‘Non-selective’ herbicides. Non-selective herbicides are those which kill all the types of plants which includes lawn grasses and all those desired plants which you want to have and keep in your garden. On the other hand, selective herbicides only kill some of the selected plants of your garden such as broadleaf plants or non-grassy plants.

Types of Plants Present in Our Lawn/Garden

As we know, these crabgrasses are also a type of grass, so common herbicides and lawn fertilizer products generally known as weed & feed fertilizers can’t kill them. These products are mostly those selective herbicides which can’t kill all the grasses and can only kill selective plants . They kill broadleaf weeds like dandelinos and some other lawn weeds. They don’t harm the grasses of your lawn. These crabgrasses can be killed by post emergent herbicides that are selective and kill crabgrasses without harming the desired lawn grasses.

Product Should be Approved Before Using

While choosing, make sure to always read the product labels carefully. The labels present on your products should match with your grass type and should be approved. While treating the lawn grass with these herbicides or crabgrass killers, make sure to read all the label instructions and maintain the safety precautions.

The Extent to Which Its Effect Can Spread

The type of crabgrass killers you buy should be able to spread to the whole area so that it leaves better effects to the grass. Thus, you need to have your crabgrass killers as very small in size granulars and not so big as the big granulars when mixed with water and get wet don’t spread across a larger areas and thus its affect don’t reach to the required extent to kill or inhibit the growth of crabgrass.

FAQs

How to control Crabgrass in Summer?

Summer is a favorable season for the seeds of crabgrass to germinate and for crabgrass to grow vigorously. To control crabgrasses in summer, we can follow any of the two methods. One is doing it with chemicals and other is without chemicals. While doing it without chemicals, we need to pull out the crabgrass from roots. Watering your lawn will make it easier to remove these weeds as it loosen the soil. The bare areas should be filled with the seeds. If a weed killer is used, then reseeding needs to be done after atleast a month.  Crabgrass growth can also be controlled by using chemicals like were and post emergent herbicides which are suitable for different types of lands.

How to dig up Crabgrass?

It is quite a hectic task to dig up the crabgrass and take them out to get rid of them. You need to use some tools to dig deep inside and take out the crabgrass and weed from the roots so that their complete growth can be stopped. The weeds can be pulled out after watering the lawn just to make it easier to pull out by loosening the soil. The use of hand trowel and digging knife makes it easier to this task manually.

How to eliminate Crabgrass?

To eliminate the Crabgrass completely, we need to remove all the existing     crabgrasses and make sure all it seedling get destroyed so that the germination don’t take place and they don’t get produced again in later future. The amount of chemicals should be used according to the land conditions and the selective plants which we want to protect from getting harmed.

How to get Crabgrass out of lawn?

The way to get rid of the crabgrass from your lawn will depend on many factors. Some of those factors are type of equipments available, size of the lawn,etc. The herbicides which suit the grass and plants of the lawn should be taken and its solution is prepared to spray on the grasses. Not more than recommended amount should be used as it can affect the desirable grass too. After killing the crabgrass, all the dead crabgrasses need to be removed from the lawn and thrown out using some tools.

How to get rid of Crabgrass and grow grass?

The crabgrass killer or herbicides should be used as directed and it will kill the crabgrass or weeds from down to their root without harming other desirable grass. These crabgrass can be pulled out manually by using hand trowel or digging knife. If the crabgrass has grown to a larger are, then a fast acting formula is needed which will kill the crabgrass completely. By following the instruction properly, the herbicides effect can be maximized. Excess fertilizing and too frequent watering should be restricted. The seeds of crabgrass should not spread. These crabgrass killer should be applied at appropriate times. Later, after removing these crabgrasses completely all the seeds of the desired plants will grow according to the conditions they get. Seeds can be sown after removing weeds to get the grass we desire.

CONCLUSION

Thus, there are any different type of crabgrasses which affects our plants in different ways. They release some chemical which inhibits the growth of some other plants. There are so many crabgrass killers which can be used according to the instructions given and can be applied on the grass and plants to get the maximum affect. All the conditions should be examined about the lawn, garden or any other area and after that a proper method should be chosen to kill the crabgrass. You don’t need to worry about its existence, if you do follow all the steps properly, these crabgrass won’t harm your plants.