Get Rid Of Crabgrass In Your Lawn With This Acidic Trick

Growing a healthy lawn takes time, dedication, and sometimes a little ingenuity. That's especially true if you're keen to adopt more organic and natural solutions for dealing with any weeds that might try to invade your lawn. Crabgrass is a weed that can be difficult to control, especially once it becomes established, because it's not that easy to fully remove by hand. You might be able to rip out visible plants, but won't be able to get rid of the seeds already beneath the ground.

But before you reach for a chemical herbicide in desperation to rid your lawn of this grassy nuisance, try this acidic trick using things you probably already have in your kitchen: lemon juice and apple cider vinegar. These two products are just some of the common kitchen ingredients you can use to tackle the weeds in your lawn. Even better, these products are not residual, so they pose no harm to the soil or surrounding plants, as long as care is taken to only apply them to the weeds.

To make this natural weedkiller, it's best to start with lemon juice concentrate because it contains standardized levels of citric acid. Mix up around ½ cup of the lemon juice with 4 cups of apple cider vinegar and put this into a spray bottle. Spray this mixture onto the crabgrass, making sure you cover the plant entirely. Take care not to get the mixture onto the surrounding grass as it will burn any plant it comes into contact with. Acids such as citric acid work by breaking down the leaf cuticles and drying out the leaves. Ideally, you want to apply this mixture in the heat of the day as the sun's intensity will help to effectively burn the leaves of the crabgrass. Once the weed is dead, which should only take around 24 hours, you should find it easy to pull out and discard. You'll want to make sure not to skip this step because the acidic solution will not kill the roots so there's a possibility that the crabgrass will come back.

You'll achieve the greatest success when you treat weeds such as crabgrass while they're still young and within around two weeks of germination. That's why spring is the best time of year to kill the unsightly crabgrass in your lawn. Above all, when dealing with crabgrass, avoid making common mistakes like cutting the grass too short or overwatering your lawn.