Poa annua is a very common grass on all golf courses in the country. It can be maintained to create a playable surface but it is usually treated as a weed especially on golf courses that have Bentgrass greens. This is the case at our golf course. Poa annua is an extremely difficult weed to control as there is no "silver bullet" type of control for it. In the past we have used low rates of special growth regulating chemicals that irritate the Poa annua in all of our greens sprays. However, too much of this chemical can have a negative effect on Bentgrass. We've paired this practice with manually picking out the Poa annua plants. The results of these methods of control have been good but not great as we are still seeing Poa annua plants emerge in our greens every year.
This year we are trying something new. We have purchased a special brush that we can fill with the same growth regulating chemical that we have been using previously but at much higher rates. We also added a chemical that suppresses the plants ability to generate new seeds. The brush allows us to effectively paint the Poa annua with these chemicals. We have made treatments using this brush to the greens on holes #1 and #2. The results have been fantastic. The Poa annua plants have taken a serious hit and have begun wilting out while the Bentgrass around them is unaffected. We will continue to use this method combined with our usual low rate sprays.
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| All pictures are of the front of #2 green |
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