How to get raid of Crabgrass in VEG. Garden

[tjg911]

Originally Posted by Redbaron

The allure of purslane

See how thick it is? No harm to the tomatoes. It's only a weed if you think it is a weed. Actually it helps other plants as long as they are up and taller than the purslane before the purslane gets too thick.

Produce Recipes: Purslane
Purslane recipes at epicurious


Good both cooked and raw

thanks. it looks like purslane is very good for you! i like the ground cover to retain moisture and cool the soil too, i use shredded leaves for that. i really liked the idea they crowd out other weeds. in my garden it grows with other weeds so i don't see the crowding out effect but it is prolific and i swear the hotter and drier the more it grows and spreads! when they compared it to okra i was ready to bail, you can't feed a yankee okra! well maybe deep fried but i never had that. i certainly have an unending supply of this plant. i have been tempted to try it in the past but i never have. i will pick some and see what it tastes like, this may be a wonderful vitamin packed freebee or i'll just have to continue to stirrup hoe it to death.

tom

[CapnChkn]

I've been going crazy with the "living mulch" concept. In my no-till beds, the crimson clover gave way to a kind of nutgrass or crabgrass that covers everything and makes it hard to find my plants. I discover I can gather all the stolons and once I have them all in hand, cut the whole thing off with my pruning shears or grass shears below the crown.

The roots just seem to rot in the soil. I haven't seen any grow back from the severed roots at all...

[Redbaron]

Grass has a unique ability to shed roots when the tops are cut. It is an evolutionary adaptation to being grazed. Sometimes it comes back, sometimes not. BUT always there are rotting roots providing food for the soil. It is one of the ways nature "tills" the soil, along with worms etc.

This characteristic is well documented scientifically by André Voisin who published "Grass Productivity" in 1959

[lemurian]

The best organic method of removing crabgrass is pulling it after a watering or rain. There are multiple methods of preventing in, but basically it comes down to exposing as little bare earth as possible. Crabgrass is really a wonder of nature; it is perfectly evolved to prevent erosion You can't blame it for doing it's thing!

[woodcrafts]

I have sprayed vinegar & Epsom salt. It burns it back, however repeated applications are needed. One must spray prior to seed heads. The shorter the better. Cardboard or plastic also work, however, it is also work to remove after growing season.