Winter Grass and How to Deal With It

Pre-Emergents | Winter Grass

As we deal with this unprecedented wet weather smothering the Mid-North Coast, coming into the colder months we are also battling a nasty and very invasive weed…Winter Grass!
Mid to late Autumn (NOW) is a prime time to get ahead and apply pre-emergents to stop this invasive grass from germinating!

Winter Grass, scientifically termed Poa Annua, is a creeping herbaceous plant characterised by its soft, pendulous green foliage, often forming clusters with white seeds. Its emergence typically coincides with soil temperatures averaging 16 to 17 degrees Celsius, commonly observed in the transition to mid to late Autumn or with the onset of cooler weather.

How Does Winter Grass Spread?

Once established, Winter Grass propagates through the dispersal of its triangular seed heads. These seeds are disseminated through various means, including deposition on the ground, wind dispersal, avian transport, and incidental human foot traffic, subsequently giving rise to new instances of the weed/plant.

Prevention is the Best Medicine!

Preventive herbicides such as Oxafert and Oxafert Plus specifically address dormant weed seeds in the soil, halting their germination process before the weeds become visible. Optimal timing for pre-emergent application is during the transition to mid to late Autumn, coinciding with the onset of cooler temperatures, when dormant winter weed seeds are primed to sprout.

Alternatively, early to mid-Spring serves as another opportune period for pre-emergent application, aligning with rising temperatures to effectively deter the emergence of seasonal summer weeds such as Summer Grass and Crabgrass/Crowsfoot.