As we neared the end of April, everything around the golf course was
starting to come together to create great playing surfaces on just about
every part of the course. The greens were rolling nicely, the bermuda
fairways have filled in and greened up, the tees are more dense and
uniform than in years past, and the rough...well it's still the rough.
We've still got work to do there. So as all is going good, imagine my
utter disbelief and frustration as our poa annua greens began to seed
for the second time this year.
White, fat seedheads...The stuff of nightmares.
Here I have one standing up on the point of my key chain card.
I'm still trying to learn the why behind what happened to cause this.
Typically you can expect one good flush of seeds in the early spring.
In an effort to lessen the amount and size of the seeds produced, we
use growth regulating products designed to suppress seedhead production.
As far as I understand, these products are designed to be used only
once per year. Regarding our situation - I haven't been able to get any
recommendations on using these suppressants again heading into summer.
I believe this second flush of seeds is a product of the weather. In
early March we had temperatures well above average, which caused an
early flush of seeds from the poa. Temperatures in April were then
typical of temperatures in March: cooler and very dry. Now in May our
temperatures are around what we might see in April. I really think the
turf is a bit confused as it has seen two periods of weather that
typically serve as the signal to start producing seeds. There could be
many other factors here, but I think the weather is having the most
impact.
Poa annua seedheads are the bane of a smooth putting surface. Not much
else does more to ruin the speed and consistency of the green surface.
The actual process of producing seeds is also detrimental to root
development of the turf. The turf diverts vital resources to produce
seeds instead of roots. Unfortunately we will have to deal with these
seedheads for another couple weeks.
Oddly enough this is from the same green as the previous pictures. This biotype of poa hasn't seeded again.