Why Crabgrass Loves Your Driveway & Sidewalk Edges
As late summer heat sets in, you may notice stubborn crabgrass showing up. Crabgrass starts to grow, especially along concrete edges like sidewalks, driveways, and curbs. This isn’t a coincidence.
What Causes Crabgrass?
Concrete absorbs and radiates heat, creating soil temperatures much higher than the rest of your lawn. Crabgrass thrives in these hot, dry conditions where your cool-season grass struggles. By late summer, the conditions are perfect for crabgrass plants to germinate and spread along those borders.
What This Means for Your Lawn
- Pre-emergent herbicide breakdown: The barrier we apply in spring naturally breaks down over time due to sunlight, microbial activity, and especially heat. Along concrete edges, soil temperatures can be 10–15°F higher than the rest of the lawn, which speeds up that breakdown. By late summer, the protection in these “hot zones” is often much weaker or gone.
- Open space for crabgrass: As the pre-emergent fades and grass along the edges is stressed by heat and dryness, crabgrass seeds which can remain viable in soil for years have the perfect conditions to germinate.
- Rapid spread risk: Once established along edges, crabgrass can spread inward into healthier turf, setting up a larger problem for the following year.
Note: Crabgrass can often be confused with coarse tall fescue due to their similar appearance. Read our guide on crabgrass vs coarse tall fescue to learn how to tell the difference.
How We’re Addressing Crabgrass
Our late-summer treatments focus on reducing crabgrass competition and supporting your lawn’s recovery. We’ll target these high-stress edge areas, encourage healthy turf growth, and help prepare your lawn for a strong fall.
How You Can Prevent Crabgrass
- Watering Your Lawn during hot spells to reduce stress, especially the edges.
- Maintain a sharp mowing edge without scalping grass next to concrete.
- Avoid disturbing the soil along edges, as this can bring dormant seeds to the surface.
Together, we can control crabgrass and set you up for a healthy lawn.
