Poa annua, annual bluegrass, or most commonly known as Poa is a very problematic weed in the Southeastern United States. Poa is an annual grass that typically germinates around September and lives through the winter until the temperature gets too warm and dies off, usually around May. To combat this monster of a weed, we utilize pre and post emergent herbicides throughout the fall, winter and spring months of the year and time their applications to the growth stage of the Poa.
There are several different herbicides that are available to use for these applications, however, the herbicide used must also be safe for use on the desired turf, whether it be Bermuda, Zoysia or even Centipede. Over the last several years, we have rotated the different herbicides to decrease the possibility of the different bio-types of Poa from building herbicide resistance to the different chemistries of herbicides. Well, the time has finally come that we are beginning to see some herbicide resistance at different areas throughout the property and post emergence control is becoming very difficult.
We are working on finding a new herbicide that will control our herbicide resistant bio-type, whether it be something new or an older chemistry that has been around for years. The wet spring has also increased the amount of Poa we have had to fight off continuously to keep things looking good. Although we won't be able to eradicate the Poa, we will have a new plan in place for next year and hopefully have much better control.
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