Its that time of year when Poa annua produces its seedhead. Superintendents around the world have different opinions about controlling it. You can make a growth regulator application that eliminates seedhead production. However, that application is hit or miss and can have mixed results depending on the weather and timing of the application. Remember, the seed produced this spring is the seed that germinates in the fall. It is always an ugly 3 weeks or so!
At HCC, I choose not to control seedhead. The reason is simple. On our greens, we are still fighting the Poa. By allowing the Poa to produce seed, it expends a tremendous amount of energy that Poa has stored up. This means it will enter summer in a weakened state. Therefore, growth regulator applications that favor bentgrass tend to be more effective. In early fall, we make a pre-emergent chemical application that prevents Poa seed from germinating. Unfortunately, pre-emergent chemicals are only so effective-in the 90-95% range at best. My objective is to keep the Poa population low enough that if PoaCure (see last weeks post) ever becomes an option in a few years, we will be able to make those applications without having to do a total renovation.
On the driving range tee, we really do not want to eliminate seedhead because this spring's seedhead crop is what will germinate in the fall. Our range tee is predominately Poa annua and Perennial Ryegrass.