LOSS OF Poa IN COLLARS DURING SUMMER HEAT STRESS
LOSS OF Poa IN COLLARS DURING SUMMER HEAT STRESS
A recurring problem on Midwestern golf courses is a loss of Poa annua in the collar area and approaches during summer stress periods. The Poa generally looks good in the fall and spring, but dies in July or early August. A possible solution to this problem, is convert the collar and approach areas to perennial ryegrass and then use Prograss (ethofumesate) to control the Poa.
Prograss doesn’t work well in bluegrass or bentgrass turf, but it is very effective in perennial ryegrass because of the tolerance of this species to this herbicide even in the seedling stage. If you have access to the turfgrass information service web site, you can get an article that I wrote on a similar subject a few years ago. Its title is “FAIRWAY CONVERSION: THE ANNUAL BLUEGRASS TO RYE TO BENT APPROACH”. It was published in Golf Course Mgt. August 1990.
http://archive.lib.msu.edu/tic/gcman/article/1990aug36.pdf
The picture below is from Terrace Hills Golf Course in Altoona. Superintendent Bill Barker used this approach to solve the loss of Poa in summer. The picture was taken in late summer when most of the Poa had died out. The perennial rye is doing fine. The narrow strip around the green is where he stayed away from the green surface with the sprayer when he was applying the Prograss. As can be seen, the Poa survived in the untreated strip and died during the stress period.
I would like some feedback from those who have had some experience with this procedure (positive and negative) and from those with questions. Just use the comment section below and post your comments.
Nick Christians