# Need help! Poa annua taking over my lawn



## grngrs (Apr 27, 2019)

I'm new to lawn care and recently bought a new house. This year, the backyard is being overrun by Poa Annua. Any suggestions on how I can manage this? I'm not sure if I should focus on getting rid of it via pre-emergent in the fall or to just try to overseed and focus on the lawn.

I live in the Seattle Washington area. Grass type is perennial ryegrass I believe.


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## Delmarva Keith (May 12, 2018)

Apply pre late Summer. It will go away.

https://www.extension.purdue.edu/extmedia/AY/AY-41-W.pdf


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

There is one small caveat in that article. You need to have a dry summer and let the lawn go dry (not irrigate). That's to ensure POA a dies. In my well irrigated areas, it survives. The same happens to golf courses.


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## Creppin (Aug 28, 2018)

g-man said:


> There is one small caveat in that article. You need to have a dry summer and let the lawn go dry (not irrigate). That's to ensure POA a dies. In my well irrigated areas, it survives. The same happens to golf courses.


Would you say the POA Annua has been worse this year with all the rain last year and again this year?


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

I don't know. Indy had a different climate than the east coast last year. We went from hot and dry with heavy downpours to cold.


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## mattcoughlin (Jul 8, 2018)

I live in the seattle area too. 1. chances are your grass is a perennial rye/fescue mix as its the most common out here. 2. If you water your lawn it will stay forever. I also had a problem with it in my lawn and i ended up buying a brush on applicator and spot killed it, then overseeded those areas. The one i got came from coastal farm and ranch in auburn near the outlet mall. Its basically some PVC pipe in the shape of a hockey stick with rope hanging from the bottom. Worked great!


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## Muddysneakers77 (Nov 3, 2018)

Seattle area here too. My yard and all my neighbors are swimming in POA. I dont use pre emergents so it is to be expected. That and clover and creeping charlie.


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## grngrs (Apr 27, 2019)

Thanks for the replies! So if I use pre-emergent in Fall then I imagine a bunch of my lawn will just have dead spots where the poa used to be. Am I supposed to seed it again in the following year? If not, when do should I start filling the lawn back in via seeding?

Also if I don't water in the summer won't it cause damage to the good grass?


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## Delmarva Keith (May 12, 2018)

You've hit on the catch 22 of poa a control in a lawn with solely bunch type grass. There will be thin spots either way (in the depths of Summer when you are managing water to get the poa a dead and through Fall and Winter when the pre stops it coming back if you do Fall pre). You then need Spring pre for all the other weeds. Making it more tricky is that the regimen of Fall pre is usually going to take more than one year to completely get rid of all the poa a that's there (and unless the lawn is maintained super thick, it will eventually be back from wherever it came from - birds, wind, etc.).

A Spring seeding of rye seems likely to do ok in Seattle? Use Tenacity as an early Spring pre when Spring seeding (lasts about a month) and switch to a "traditional" pre once the rye is old enough to handle it.

If there's not a lot of it, another idea comes to mind. Make note of exactly where it is and zap it with gly when it germinates in the Fall. Overseed the spots. Should work if you can keep a close eye on things week to week.


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## Shindoman (Apr 22, 2018)

I'm just north of you in Vancouver B.C. I've had some success keeping the Poa in check. Make sure to always catch your clippings to collect as many seeds as possible. Cut your lawn twice a week to keep seed heads from forming. I never use a Pre m as I'm over seeding quite often but I do use a PGR on a regular basis. Usually an app every 2 to 3 weeks. The PGR I use is Podium as it's safe for Bent grass and FF. I believe the PGR makes a big difference. 
It's nearly impossible to eliminate it completely in our climate.
One of the oldest and finest golf courses around here is entirely Poa.


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## pennstater2005 (Jul 17, 2017)

I've got more poa annua than normal. Timing is key and I believe I applied a bit late in my area.


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