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It’s best to pull weeds when the soil is wet, as it’s much easier. Wet soil is much softer than dry soil, making it easier to pull the entire weed up by the root. Also, since the soil is wet, the roots will let go of the soil and slide up with less resistance. Be careful when working on your wet garden, though, as wet soil is easier to compact, which can harm your plants.

Crabgrass is very resilient, and homemade solutions like vinegar may not be strong enough. Typically, hand-weeding is the most effective option that doesn’t involve harmful chemicals. You can use corn-meal gluten as a natural pre-emergent herbicide, but it’s not as effective as chemical weed killers.

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.

Vinegar cannot tell the difference between weeds and desired grass types; it kills everything it touches. Only use a vinegar or vinegar-based solution if you are relatively confident that you can navigate around the plants and grasses you want to keep. Also, don’t spray vinegar on a windy day, or it will blow onto other plants.