Is Crabgrass in your lawn?

I admire tenacity. It is a trait that I strive for myself and have tried to instill in my child. I am moved when I hear stories about people who overcome adversity or achieve great things by trying repeatedly until they reach their goals. And yet, when a great example of tenacity occurs right in my own backyard, I find myself strangely unmoved.

The model of tenacity is crabgrass (Digitaria), and now is its high season. For those who have just moved in from some barren planet, crabgrass is an annual weed that appears in mid to late summer. It emerges from the ground to form spreading mats of growth. It takes over if given even half a chance, and is very difficult to irradicate. The Latin name for the genus, Digitaria, is very appropriate. “Digitus” is the Latin word for finger, and crabgrass is distinguished by the long finger-like projections that it sends out in all directions. Long ago someone looked at a crabgrass plant with its “fingers” fully spread and decided that it looked like a green crab, hence the common name.

As with many irksome things, the government was responsible for crabgrass. In 1849 it was introduced into the United States for use as a forage plant. Crabgrass settled in faster than you can say “herbicide” and has lived here in not-so-peaceful coexistence with homeowners ever since.

I have crabgrass around the edges of my lawn and here and there in my flower beds. There would be more of it in the lawn if it were not for the clover that seems to out-compete it. On balance I don’t mind the clover, so I concentrate my efforts on removing the crabgrass from amidst the flowers. Beds, where the spaces between plants have been covered with layers of newspaper topped with mulch, are well defended against