Annual bluegrass is a weed plant of the bluegrass family. Experts classify it as a lawn weed.
Distribution
Distributed throughout the world, except for the deserts of Central Asia and the Far North, but better known in Russia.
Grows in any soil, but grows more often:
- in wet and damp meadows;
- on ruderal places;
- in grazing and trampling areas;
- on the pebbles and sands next to the river;
- on soils rich in nitrogen.
Description of annual bluegrass
The plant has a stalk 5 to 40 cm high with narrow light green leaves up to 4 mm wide. The inflorescence is a small spreading panicles of a pyramidal shape up to 7-8 cm long. It blooms from May to September, and bears fruit from early summer to mid-autumn. Propagated by seeds. There are about 450 seeds per plant.
Economic value
Annual bluegrass is an important herbin agriculture, as cattle are often grazed in the fields with it. Indeed, bluegrass has a number of nutritional properties, it is a delicious feed for livestock. But the plant is small, so it is not very profitable as a feed.
Because bluegrass grows very quickly, it is often added to inexpensive grass mixtures as lawn cover. But experts do not advise using it as a lawn grass, because with its rapid growth, it slows down the growth of other perennials. That's why it's considered a weed.
Manual weed control
Hand weeding is an effective measure to control annual bluegrass, albeit a little labor intensive.
20 days after sowing the lawn, weed the plant, as its root system is still poorly developed. At the same time, try to place the shovel deeper in order to completely remove the root systems of bluegrass. After removing the weeds, the damaged soil is compacted and watered.
Experts advise weed control after every lawn mowing.
Chemical weed control
Today, herbicides are used in weed control. To combat annual bluegrass on lawns, selective herbicides are used, for example, Lontrel-300 or Magnum and others. They help to kill weeds, but do not damage the lawn. Moreover, they destroy not only the ground part, but also the rhizomes of the plant.
Rules for the use of chemicalmeans effectively:
- use only on warm and calm days;
- spraying dry weeds only;
- do not change the lawn before using herbicides;
- after weed control with chemicals, it is necessary to mow the lawn only after 2-3 days.
Some drugs have their own specific properties, so you need to carefully study the instructions before using them.
It is impossible to deal with weeds at one time. Usually some products are designed for repeated spraying.
How to plant bluegrass?
If you still decide to plant a lawn from annual bluegrass, then you need to prepare a place for sowing and know some simple rules.
Preparing a site for sowing bluegrass:
- Preparing the soil. The selected area for the lawn is loosened and weeded. If the fruit part of the soil is less than 15-20 cm, it is necessary to add some sand. Also apply fertilizer for rapid growth and development.
- Leveling the area. With the help of a chopper and a rake, it is worth leveling the soil, and then compacting the soil with either a special roller or a wooden board.
- Loosening. The soil on the site after compaction is loosened with a rake or chopper at a depth of 2-3 cm. Level the soil if lumps of earth or depressions are found.
Sowing the lawn
Per square meter of lawn, experts advise sowing 40 grams of bluegrass seeds. So that empty, unsown areas do not appear,you need to sow part of the seeds near and across the lawn. We plant to a depth of 2 mm, and nitrogen and potash fertilizers are added along with the seeds.
Features of bluegrass lawn care
After sowing, you need to ensure good care, otherwise the seeds will be wasted, and the site will remain empty. There are a few simple rules:
- Each day before germination, you need to water the bluegrass lawn for 10 minutes so that the soil is perfectly saturated with moisture.
- You can't walk on the lawn for the first 2 weeks!
- Water abundantly during hot weather in summer.
- Once the seeds sprout, you can sow some more.
- Don't forget to fertilize from time to time.
So, annual bluegrass is an ambiguous plant. It can be cultivated to form a lawn, or considered a weed in a garden where other plants grow.
