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Help with identifying a weed in Bermuda lawn #890815

Asked December 15, 2024, 3:21 PM EST

Hi, I live in Cary (Wake county) and I saw the weed in the attached picture in my Bermuda grass lawn that started sprouting around October ad now its spreading really fast. I used a pre-emergent in September (Andersons per-emergent: https://www.amazon.com/Andersons-Barricade-Professional-Grade-Granular-Pre-Emergent/dp/B08ZZ16HD1/). But this weed is still growing and spreading right now. I tried to match it to the weed identification pictures online but I have not been able to find a definitive match. Can you please help me with identifying the weed and any sprays I can use to get rid of it? Thanks

Wake County North Carolina

Expert Response

believe what you have is Poa annua, or annual bluegrass.  I read in one Extension publication that it might be the worst annual weed in lawns because it is so hard to get rid of.  It‘s seeds germinate most years between Sept 1 and Oct 1, then in grows through the winter, flowers in the spring and dies around May.  As a winter annual, it shows up very well in Bermuda lawns after they go dormant in the fall.  A pre-emergent labeled for Poa should work, but manny people use a broadleaf pre-emergent and that will not work since Poa is a grass.  Killing a grass in a grass lawn is difficult and this weed produces many, many seeds in spring that can lie dormant for years. In areas without grass, as in your last photo, any nonspecific weed killer can be used.  In your lawn you could look for a grass killer that willl not harm dormant Bermuda.  I don’t know of any, but I don’t have lawn and I pull by hand the Poa that comes up in my flower beds.  I’ve attached a link with more information about the plant.

https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/poa-annua/

An Ask Extension Expert Replied December 16, 2024, 10:56 AM EST

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