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There are organic herbicide options that will kill grass but not flowers, including white vinegar or a dish soap solution. Commercial selective herbicides can also target grass over other plants, but read the instructions carefully to avoid damaging your garden. Herbicides that kill grass but not flowers usually include ingredients like clethodim and sethoxydim. Otherwise, your best bet will be to weed by hand.

If you have a lot of tree roots in your yard or have experienced issues in the past, you should use tree root killer every six months to prevent roots from infiltrating your pipes. If you have an active invasion and aren’t seeing results, check the instructions on the bottle to see how often you can use it in a short period of mine.

Technically, dandelions aren’t bad for your lawn, and they don’t directly kill grass. In fact, they appear in areas that are nutrient-deprived, and their long taproots can loosen the soil and bring nutrients closer to the surface. 

However, dandelions do spread quickly, and they can take over your lawn, eventually crowding out grass. This is why a healthy lawn is the best defense against dandelions.

The best time to fight crabgrass with pre-emergent herbicide is when forsythias tend to bloom. In the mid-Atlantic region, this is usually between April and May. Even if you're late to apply the herbicide, it’s effective as long as the crabgrass plant has fewer than five leaves.