Weed Stop For Lawns Plus Crabgrass Killer Concentrate, Weed Killer, 32 Ounces

"Spectracide Weed Stop For Lawns Plus Crabgrass Killer Concentrate" was recommended by a local lawn guy as the easiest consumer product to use to clear out weeds and crabgrass. Professionals have access and expertise to use other products which work faster or are labeled for other uses now, but are still highly effective. $10 is a bargain compared to the $65-$200 stuff they use. Plus, for my yard, I can't justify the higher cost even if it is much cheaper to use, since the chemicals will need to last 10 yrs in those higher cost containers and don't deal with as many different types of weeds as Spectracide Weed Stop does. Waited until the daily temperatures were below 85 degF for a few days in late August. Never spray this stuff when it is too hot or you will kill the grass too. Ask me how I know? The weeds were taking over my Bermuda grass lawn because the Bermuda isn't as thick as it could be. Weeds filled every bare and slightly open spot that was available. I'd used some vinegar+dishsoap+salt for spot treatments of crabgrass which was very effective, but it kills everything, so for a yard with 50/50 grass and weeds, it isn't practical. Put the amount of product amount, unmixed, for my 3000 sqft grassy area into the Ortho 20gal hose-end sprayer, set the rate for whatever the instructions said and sprayed the entire yard during a dew-less morning. No rain expected for a few days. By late afternoon, some of the weeds were already showing signs they were dying. Many weeds didn't show any signs of issues for a week. I'd planned to spray again 14 days after the original treatment, if needed. By the 10th day, the vast majority of the weeds in the yard were clearly dead and the Bermuda was looking fine. I didn't spray again. In early Sept, put down some 0-0-7 fall pre-emergence. Will need to do that again in December and March. Yes, there are better products for specific weed types. Yes, there are homemade ways to deal with small patches of weeds, but I don't know of any easier product that provides the same value for weed control of larger areas with mixed grass and weeds. The 32oz container is only half used (actually, I think 20oz was used), so there's enough for treatment next late-May/early-June, if my pre-emergence efforts aren't perfect or I can't get the bermuda to fill in again next spring (which I failed to accomplish this spring too). I applied at the lower end of the application rates suggested and fully expected to need a 2nd treatment, but didn't need it. Of course, not every weed is gone. Late in the season, getting bermuda to fill in where my soil is a little acidic and mostly clay is hard. Other lawn care is necessary for the bermuda to fill in better. The yard is in Northern ATL metro area, so the timing based on temperature requirements for effective use really matter. Mid-June it is already too hot for use. I was surprised that we had cool, dry, weather in August for about a week. About 5 yrs ago, I made the mistake of applying a similar product without reading the temperature requirements carefully. This was what killed half my grass and has lead to the struggles to get the yard back since that time. I'd used that other product for a few years successfully - probably was just blind luck. It was very effective. Read the labels. Watch some youtube advice from grass people IN YOUR AREA. Ignore the advice from people in different parts of the country. They don't know what they don't know. For me, that means advice needs to come from Northern Alabama and Northern Georgia grass people. 50 miles south and the climate is different. 50 miles north and the climate is different (plus there are mountains). Advice from guys in Indianan, Iowa, Chicago, Texas, California, or Phoenix are probably great for those areas, just not good advice for a guy like me. Perhaps your local AM radio news station has a Garden Guy on the air Saturday mornings. Good source for local knowledge and questions too. Also, be careful not to spay this onto any bushes. They will be killed - well, the branches that get over-sprayed will die. I'm looking at my front hedges where about 10% were hit by over-spray and all the leaves are dead. Hopefully, the rest of that bush will be tough enough to make it through winter. It was already stressed from some shade problems that have been solved. I would post some recent photos, but we haven't had rain in a few weeks, so even the bermuda has lost the green from lack of water. When the grass is green, it is clear which weeds were killed. I probably had 10 different types a undesirable weeds in the yard from crabgrass, some moss, some low-ground cover (type of violet?), and sedges. Also have some of the neighbor's non-bermuda grass coming over too. Their yard has excellent grass, except where there isn't any dirt, just clay on the surface. Nothing grows directly in clay from what I can tell.

Highly recommend trying before paying lawn care treatment

This thing for me kills my weeds in my backyard. I would advice to apply it 3 days before it rains. I noticed on the third day is when you'll see the weeds drying up. Ideally a week before it rains shows the best results. I remember the side of my house and yards looks like a forest fire hit it lol.. Come this year new grass has grown in. Even planted new grass seeds on the side, not it looks much better. Weeds do still come back (not as it did before), but I just get more of this and prepare to get rid of them.

In order for this to work u have to mix it exactly as they specify, any more dilution and it won't work at all. This is more cost effective than buying the premixed gallon sprayers but I wish it would cover a larger area like their other version. 6300 sq ft isn't a lot. You have to mix with water and use a sprayer which is a lot easier than using their hand sprayer. It does require more than one treatment. In one area of heavy weeds, it killed them but they came back after 3 weeks and I had to repeatedly apply 3 times. I had a lot of brambles aka brambleberry (very thorny tall plants with white flowers and fruits like raspberries/blackberries - same family rubus genus and are perennials that are very hard to get rid of since they spread through roots/tubers underground). I sprayed the leaves with this a couple of times and it killed the plants effectively. But be very careful, I made the mistake of not being careful and sprayed the neighboring azaleas and cherry blossom trees and it killed the azalea bush and the leaves in the cherry blossom tree and now turning yellow with holes. I think I may have killed my tree.

Know your weeds first. Some are spring germinating weeds and fall germinating weeds. Some of the tougher to kill weeds are winter weeds that germinated in the fall and by the time you spray them in spring, they are resistant to the chemicals. Winter annuals should be sprayed in fall/winter to kill them. Spring annuals should be sprayed in early spring to kill them. Spraying most annual weeds after they have established in the lawn will have mixed results. Sometimes killing, sometimes halting further growth and sometimes no effect. The weed needs to be actively growing so it absorbs the chemicals through the leaves and sends it down to the roots, where it does the damage. If it hasn't rained in 3 weeks or it is 95 degrees they aren't growing and are dormant. Water the weeds (seems wrong but it's right) a day before spraying if it's been dry and spray in the early morning if it's too hot during the day. Otherwise spring and fall are the application times. For clover you have to spray it a couple times about 2 weeks apart which worked for me. Mixed results on other weeds but overall it is a cost effective solution if you keep on it. Spraying one time in the middle of summer isn't going to work. Spraying only in the spring isn't going to work. You need to spray spring and fall. The best protection against lawn weeds is a healthy thick lawn.