POA ANNUA REMOVAL

POA Annua or annual meadow grass is a type of grass that may crop up in your lawn from time to time. This can be recognised by the distinct light green colour which sticks out in your lawn and the horizontal growth. Although it may be unsightly, this is a grass and cannot be killed by a lawn weed killer, so it can be rather difficult to deal with. Despite this, there are still ways to remove it:

1. Cutting It Out

The best and most effective way to remove POA is by cutting out the POA either with a sharp gardening knife or some sort of other hand tool, such as a trowel. This method works very well for a small amount of POA, but it can be time consuming on a larger scale. The roots for POA are not normally deep, so this should be relatively straightforward to do. 

Once you have removed the POA, then you will want to reseed in those gaps using a good quality top soil and seed. 

2. Scarifying/Raking

By raking or scarifying your lawn, this will identify where the POA is. POA can be obvious by its colour but it can also be identified by its horizontal growth. When raking and scarifying, this will stand up the POA which is currently laying horizontally.

When POA has been stood up, you then have a couple of different options: 

• Cut out the POA and reseed
• Mow the lawn once the POA has been stood up. POA likes to be kept long, so by standing this up and then cutting, it will help to control the POA

3. Verticutting

POA grows horizontally, so by cutting vertically, this will target the POA rather than the standard grass within your lawn. POA does not like to be cut short, so by trimming this back aggressively, you can help control the POA within your lawn. 

To cut vertically, you will want to look out for a scarifier that has a blade attachment. By following the process explained within the scarifying section, this will help you control the POA.

4. Removal vs Prevention

As with many things on your lawn, prevention is always the best method. To prevent POA taking root, there are a few key things that you can do:

• Good mowing technique - do not cut your lawn too short and do not expose the soil for new seed to take
• Keep a thick and healthy lawn. If you do not allow space in your lawn for it to grow, it will not root
• Dispose of clippings rather than mulching. Seed heads will form on POA, so by disposing of clippings rather than mulching will help prevent the spread or formation of POA