Winter Weed Profile: Poa Annua (annual bluegrass)
Spring may be some time away, but lawns still face challenges from winter weeds. Here at American Lawnscape, we understand the importance of proactive weed control to maintain a lush, green lawn throughout the growing cycle.
In this blog series, we’ll discuss our approach to winter weed control (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weed_control) and how it sets your lawn up for success in the coming months.
Annual Bluegrass (Poa Annua) is an annual grassy weed that has the potential to out-compete grasses and other weeds that are in your lawn. If it wasn’t a weed, I’d admire it a bit more. It’s durable, reproduces quickly and can stand foot traffic from pets to cattle with no problem. In fact, due to the hundreds of seeds that it produces, foot traffic helps it distribute those seeds to make it even more prolific.
Poa IS Pesky
I’ve been dealing with this weed from the time of my golf course days. It would invade our bentgrass greens and cause havoc. It acts differently than “greens” grass and would either slow or redirect your putt. It’s not a pleasure to deal with now but was really hard to eradicate in the mid 90’s.
Left untreated, poa annua will take over your lawn. It reproduces very quickly and before you know it, it’s everywhere. Many homeowners don’t recognize it as a weed and that may be another of its advantages . . . it gets left unchecked.
Treatment
Correctly timed fall and winter pre-emergent herbicides can greatly slow poa annua as the ground temperature matches poa’s favorable temperatures. If you miss this pre-emergent window, all is not lost. There are a variety of herbicides labeled to control this weed. Understand, though, it may take a while to eliminate and many retreatments may be necessary to achieve control.
Poa Annua is a Winter Weed
As it is a cool weather grassy weed, annual bluegrass can’t take the heat. If there was no treatment at all it would still disappear as a result of high summer temperatures. By then, though, the damage is done.
Throughout the winter, poa will rob nutrients from the soil needed for your actual turfgrass. While doing so, it’s dropping hundreds of seeds per plant. Not all seeds will germinate right away. As an annual, it will be back. It’s best to stop it early and treat it often.
Without a solid treatment plan, annual bluegrass will re-emerge each year – just like Mariah Carey . . . just in time for the Holiday Season.
Don’t let winter weeds steal the spotlight! Contact American Lawnscape today to learn more about our winter weed control program. Our experienced technicians will assess your lawn and recommend the most effective solution to keep those pesky winter weeds at bay.
Any Questions?
As always, please reach out with any questions pertaining to your yard. You can reply or call/text (214-308-1322). We appreciate getting to work with you and appreciate your partnership.
Throughout this Winter Weed Blog Series, we’ll drill down into weed prevention strategies as well as specific weeds that you will likely see during winter months.
Learn More Information
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2024/25 Winter Weed Series (#2 of 8)
2024/25 Winter Weed Series (#1 of 8)
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