Wild grasses in lawn

Hi, I’m new to the forum, and I would greatly appreciate help on how to overcome what I think are wild grasses in my lawn. I have used Google to identify the type of wild grass, Annual Blue grass

Last year, I got my lawn levelled early spring in 2023 and a turf lawn laid. After a few weeks the grass was thick and what I would call a perfect lawn, I was totally happy. However, as the winter progressed, in January I started to notice the grass was starting to disappear and there were now numerous bald patches.

I use a local company to feed the lawn and spray with weed killer (5 times per year) but due to the wet weather in both the Winter and Spring they were late in providing the Spring treatment. The bare patches were now being overtaken by wild grasses which didn’t grow vertically but spread out “flat”. The lawn had become multi coloured with light green wild grass

I asked for one the company's management team to visit my home and give advice on how the problem could be rectified. They thought the bare patches had been caused by leather jackets and the wild seed (he advised it was Poa grass) may have come in from a new housing development which was being built very close to my home. They suggested a light scarification, dressing the lawn and reseeding.

The grass started to grow very quickly, no bare patches and there is a vast improvement in the lawn’s appearance, but now I have wild grass growing. Every day I spent time “pulling out” the wild grasses but they continue to resprout and grow.

Please advise how the wild grass can be managed.

 

I've had success by keeping on light scarifying every week or so through the spring/summer and removing the seed heads that haven't been taken off with the scarifyer with my rotary mower.

I was plagued with poa last year but this year I hardly have any.

 

Hi, thanks, JWK and hoofy for your very prompt replies. The garden is small and hand weeding is not a big problem, sore on my back unfortunately. What height do you recommend keeping the grass at, I'm currently at the highest level on my rotary mower. I will also get the blade sharpened. I have started to brush the lawn or use a rake to try and raised the heads so they can be cut off with the mower.
On scarifying, I wouldn't know what model to purchase and does light scarifying not make the lawn look unsightly.

 

Thanks JWK for this guide, very helpful and hopefully this will keep by "Wild Grasses" at bay. I appreciate your time help and guidance.