Are you seeing Poa Trivialis or Rough Stalk Bluegrass?

Rough stalk bluegrass is most active in the spring in our region. As cold weather comes, it may shut down Poa Trivialis from growing for a week or two, but it will continue to thrive until the heat of summer. During that time, it goes completely dormant and will yellow out until temperatures cool. It’s pretty normal to see some of this grassy weed in a lawn no matter the effort we put forth. It may have already been in the soil, in a batch of cheap seed or shade seed, carried to your lawn by an animal, or many other possibilities. 

All of the rough stalk bluegrasses have a distinct boat or canoe shaped tip like the ones pictured. Poa Annua, Poa Trivialis, and Poa Pratensis (Kentucky bluegrass) are the most common in this region. If you see this in your lawn, please do not be alarmed as this is commonplace in Virginia lawns. 

We at Virginia Green strongly recommend toleration of this grassy weed as it can be difficult to eradicate from a lawn and may likely return after a few seasons but our lawncare treatments can be beneficial in reducing the amount of Poa Trivialis and Rough Stalk Bluegrass in your lawn and the sooner you start treatment, the sooner you will see positive results.