Invasive grasses
I have two prominent visitors to my front lawn that make it look like a tufted quilt. The darker green one I’ve had for a few years but the lighter green one with seed heads is new to me. So can you tell me what the are and if there’s any chance I can eliminate them?
Montgomery County Maryland lawns and turf poa trivialis plant care spring planting of oats and orchard grass
3 Responses
The first photo appears to be orchardgrass. You can dig or pull up clumps of this.
Here's more help: https://extension.umd.edu/hgic/topics/orchardgrass
The second appears to be poa trivialis, also known as orughstalk bluegrass. This is a perennial, too, but seeds quickly. It also spreads by stolons, creating big patches. If you only have a few patches, do not let them drop seed. It's worth you time to get ahead of this weed now. Hand cut off the seed stalks we see in the phot, bag, and dispose in the trash. Then dig up the patch and reseed, or kill the patch with a glyphosate herbicide, then reseed. Here's more: https://extension.umd.edu/hgic/topics/roughstalk-bluegrass
In the future, try to prevent the poa trivialis from producing seed by keeping the lawn mowed ahead of seed production.
Mow high--3 1/2 to 4", for a healthier lawn. Always fertilize each fall.
Ellen
Thank you for your response. But when I considered the remedies and looked again at the lawn, I think I asked for advice too late. The infection is more wide spread than I thought. I think now I’ll just have to keep the lawn mowed until it gets so bad that I have to kill everything and start over.
The annual bluegrass is not the worst problem. Conditions can be remedied. But the Poa Trivialis is a bear. Try to keep it from producing seed at least. We totally get it.
Ellen