aroundtheyard.com Forums

Hi everyone,

My name is Sean I'm new to the forum and I really like this site! I live on Cape Cod Massachusetts, south east of Boston and it does get cooler here sooner than Boston. I have about 10%-ish POA annua in my KBG lawn.

Last year I put down Dimensions around Labor day and then again around Halloween. I used the lowest rate recommendation plan on the bag for three times a year. The results in the 2019 spring were not that good. I still had a large amount of POA. I killed a good amount of it off with applications of tenacity but would rather stop it in the fall!

What do you do for POA? Should I drop Dimensions sooner than Labor day? Is my rate too low? The guy I talked to at John Deer told me that there is nothing I can do... I agreed to disagree with him politely... My New Years resolution this year is to get a handle on POA in my lawn.

Thanks.

-Sean

Hey Sean, welcome!

You are a lot further north than I am with different Poa times. My hunch is dropping Dimension earlier than Labor Day. You could probably keep a good yearly barrier to your yard if you don't plan on reseeding.

You might also look into Tenacity. It's a decently heavy hitting Post-Emergent with some mild Pre-M properties. I don't know if I'd use it if you're uncomfortable with precise applications. It could probably do more damage than good.

You might also try the liquid Dimension. You might have better control over applications of it than the granular. Keeping up a solid Pre-M barrier and not disturbing the soil will eliminate most weeds over time.

It's a longer battle. Keep up with split apps of a good pre emergent, well timed, spring and fall. Fill in bare spots. Yank out the stuff that comes in as you can. Took me 2 to 3 seasons on my mild infestation.

I'm close to Boston also, POA Annua is the curse of my lawn.

It's been a 3+ year battle. Last year was the first year I had a KBG and could put down a pre-m because I didn't have to over-seed, but found a lot of the POA Annua just survives the summer in my lawn. A few things I have found is...

Tenacity won't light it up right away, it will take a bunch of apps before it starts to yellow and die. It doesn't magically turn white after 14 days for me. The stuff that is yellow after multiple Tenacity apps has a 50/50 chance of still being POA Annua.

Even when its hurting from multiple Tenacity apps, if you have KBG, your better off hand pulling the POA Annua once its shriveling and dieing, so there is no chance for a come back.

Lastly I may get hammered over this, it doesn't just die in the summer. I watered a lot less this year. I probably stretched things out to weekly, and while a lot more POA Annua died this year, even now I have seed heads in the lawn that I pull up every week.

Keep at it, the yellow spots in my lawn are a lot less this year, but it doesn't come with one quick spray.

Wont get hammered by me. Everyone's climate is different. The poa annua in my neighbors lawn fries once the Indiana summer and drought stress arrive. It's a little hotter for longer here than other areas. Dries out. I think dry summers are harder on it too given shallower roots.

I mostly see poa annua in wet, low lying bare spots around here. Like those muddy ruts on street corners where people drive over the curb.

At my location it survives the summer, producing seed heads all summer. Interesting at my golf course the greens had a lot of winter kill due to freezing rain then snow cover so they slit seeded with poa. They filled in nicely but now have poa seed heads in the greens regardless of height because they get watered every night I plan on pre-m now and mid October with a blanket of tenacity with followup spot apps. I assume one can apply dimension 2ew on wet grass.

HoosierLawnGnome wrote: ↑

August 10th, 2019, 6:38 am

[Fighting Poa annua] is a longer battle. Keep up with split apps of a good pre emergent, well timed, spring and fall. Fill in bare spots. Yank out the stuff that comes in as you can. Took me 2 to 3 seasons on my mild infestation.

+1. The above is exactly what I would recommend, but said in about a quarter of the words I would have used.

northeastlawn wrote: ↑

August 10th, 2019, 6:25 pm

I'm close to Boston also, POA Annua is the curse of my lawn. ... it doesn't just die in the summer.

gwlbe wrote: ↑

August 12th, 2019, 1:30 pm

At my location [Maine] it survives the summer, producing seed heads all summer.

Same for me in Southern NH in a lawn that all gets at least some shade and most of which gets much more shade than sun.

My impression is that Poa annua does not die off in the summer in a place where it doesn't get hot and dry for at least 5-7 consecutive days in July or August. The Poa annua really only dies when it becomes sufficiently heat and drought stressed -- if your lawn isn't having to endure such stress, the Poa annua will survive through the summer.

Thanks everyone for your responses! I will drop Pre-M now and use tenacity as well. It is true like some of you that my Poa did not die as well. I have some good trees and cape cod didn't get too hot this year. Thanks again everyone! This place is great!

-Sean