Use Baking Soda to Kill Crabgrass

Summary

• Crabgrass spreads fast, seeds when very short, and outcompetes lawn grass.
• Sprinkle baking soda on damp crabgrass, cover nearby plants, wait for browning, and dig out roots.
• Remove roots, add compost and grass seed to patches, and grow a more beautiful lawn.

Crabgrass is a nuisance in gardens, lawns, and even golf courses. It is an annual weed that spreads rapidly because each plant can produce thousands of seeds! Its ability to spread quickly means it can overtake and compete with the other types of grass you cultivate.

It is even more challenging to control because it doesn't have to grow tall to produce seeds. It can go to seed when it is as short as a ½ inch. So mowing your lawn to a standard height of 3 inches is unlikely to cut it back before it spreads.

Even though mowing won't do the trick, there are ways to manage crabgrass. Baking soda is a convenient, eco-friendly, and cost-effective solution that kills crabgrass. Learn how to use it to kill crabgrass, and control weeds before they get out of hand and ruin your lawn.

So What Is Crabgrass, Anyway?

Why does this weed appear in the lawn?

There are two common types of crabgrass that you can find in the United States: smooth crabgrass (Digitaria ischaemum) and large crabgrass (Digitaria sanguinalis), according to the University of Minnesota Extension.

The species resemble one another. They are:

• Pale green
• Have a width between ½ to ¾ of an inch
• Range from 2 to 10 inches in length

You can differentiate them by the amount of hair on their grass blades. Large crabgrass, nicknamed hairy crabgrass, has an abundance of short, fine hairs all over the top and bottom of the leaves. In contrast, smooth crabgrass has a few long hairs on the underside of the foliage near the plant's base.

Regardless of which crabgrass has invaded your lawn, baking soda can help eliminate it!

Prep Your Lawn for Crabgrass Removal

Pre-treat and prep your lawn to make removing weeds an easier process

Before you begin, collect a few essential supplies for your weed removal project.

• Baking Soda
• Watering can or garden hose
• Shovel or weed removal tool
• Turf or soil and seed (to replace your weeds)

The first step to using baking soda to kill crabgrass is to soak the patches of weeds with water. You can use a watering can or a garden hose to wet the crabgrass blades. Soaking the weeds is excellent prep because it will make it easier for the sodium bicarbonate to stick to the damp blades of grass.

You can skip this step if you apply your sodium bicarbonate treatment in the morning and the grass is still wet from morning dew.

Sodium bicarbonate isn't just harmful to crabgrass; it can also damage your other plants.

• Before you jump into the next step, take a minute to carefully protect any plants, including grass on your lawn beside the weeds.
• You can create a temporary DIY covering from burlap, fabric, or even cardboard.
• Choose your material and cut it to size so it covers any plant you want to keep close to the weedds.

Baking soda, sodium bicarbonate, is phytotoxic, meaning that it is toxic to plants like crabgrass. The sodium within the baking soda desiccates or dries out its leaves and roots, taking away all the essential moisture and killing the weed.

Kill Crabgrass With Sodium Bicarbonate

Use your kitchen pantry to take care of your lawn

When your precious plants are safely tucked beneath a protective layer, it's time to tackle your crabgrass.

• Sprinkle the sodium bicarbonate directly onto the damp crabgrass foliage.
• Use enough so that it entirely coats the weed.
• Wait several hours or a few days until you see the blades of grass wilt, go pale, or even brown.
• The wilting and discoloration signal that the treatment is working and killing the weed.

Despite its phytotoxic effects, baking soda can benefit some plants. It treats fungal infections such as helminthosporium leaf spot, which causes yellow circles around a brown center on bromeliad and prayer plant foliage.

Remove Weeds From the Lawn

Dig up the roots of weeds so they won't return

Now it's time to get rid of those pesky weeds. For this part of the project, you will need some manual weed removal.

• You need a shovel or weed remover to pry the crabgrass and its roots from the ground.
• Remember to take out the entire plant because if any of the roots remain, there is a chance that your weeds will grow right back.

You may need to repeat your sodium bicarbonate application more than once. If you see green blades of crabgrass popping up, re-apply the treatment, and follow up by digging out the entire root. If this is still not effective, try another natural weed killer like vinegar. Apply vinegar directly to dry weeds, watch for foliage to die, and remove the weed.

Do Some Follow Up Lawn Care

Take care of the lawn after weed removal so it grows in lush and healthy

Once your crabgrass is gone, it's time to fix up unsightly patches in your lawn. Repairing spots in your lawn is important because weeds love to pop up in empty spaces. Cultivating grass in these vacant areas helps prevent other weeds from causing future problems.

• First, loosen the soil with a trowel, then add a 3-inch layer of organic compost to cover the empty space.
• Evenly spread the seed to cover the patch, then irrigate to moisten the top 1 inch of soil and encourage germination.
• Check the soil for dryness daily by feeling the first 1 inch. If it's dry, it's time to water it again.

Watch for grass sprouts anywhere from one to three weeks after planting. Then mow the lawn over your new patch of grass to a standard 3-inch height after an additional three weeks to give your grass time to establish.

Cleverly Clear Out Crabgrass for a Healthy Lawn

Once crabgrass is gone, your lawn can grow in healthy and beautiful again so you can enjoy it!

Outsmart pesky weeds and clear out unwanted grass using baking soda as a natural weed killer. Remember to dampen the area first, cover and protect nearby plants, then sprinkle baking soda to kill foliage before removing it manually. Last but not least, if you are eliminating weedsfrom your lawn, don't forget to re-seed the area with new grass seeds to fix up the patch.

Once crabgrass is gone, your lawn can grow in healthy and beautiful again so you can enjoy it!