Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Fraise mowing is a turfgrass cultivation practice used to mechanically control annual bluegrass via a combination of physical removal and seedbank depletion. Research was conducted to determine whether fraise mowing could restore the efficacy of annual bluegrass control herbicides lost due to resistance. Herbicide treatments were applied to plots within separate fraise-mowed and non-fraise–mowed experiments conducted on a hybrid bermudagrass golf course fairway infested with annual bluegrass that became resistant to herbicides from Groups 2, 3, 5, and 29. Fraise mowing was performed on June 18, 2024, and June 23, 2025, to a 1.3-cm depth. Herbicides tested included diquat dibromide, flumioxazin, foramsulfuron, glufosinate, glyphosate, indaziflam, metribuzin, oxadiazon, prodiamine, pronamide, simazine, tetflupyrolimet, and thiencarbazone + foramsulfuron + halosulfuron. Herbicides were applied according to label directions at preemergence, early postemergence, mid-postemergence, or late postemergence timings during 2024 to 2026. In the fraise-mowed experiment, indaziflam, tetflupyrolimet, prodiamine, pronamide, simazine, and metribuzin provided 86% to 100% control of annual bluegrass by 12 wk after initial treatment (WAIT) and 61% to 88% by 24 WAIT. Without fraise mowing, these herbicides provided ≤53% and ≤73% control at 24 WAIT in 2024 and 2025, respectively. Increased efficacy may be related to a reduction in the annual bluegrass seedbank from fraise mowing because the practice reduced plant counts in nontreated check plots by 75% to 88% each year. Applications of diquat dibromide and flumioxazin mid-postemergence provided 18% to 34% control of annual bluegrass at 6 WAIT in the fraise-mowed experiment; whereas these same herbicides provided ≤10% control when they were applied to non-fraise–mowed hybrid bermudagrass. Mid-postemergence applications of glufosinate and glyphosate and late postemergence applications of foramsulfuron and thiencarbazone + foramsulfuron + halosulfuron performed similarly in both experiments. Restored use of residual herbicides lost due to resistance may remove barriers to adopting the practice of fraise mowing for annual bluegrass control.
Source: Weed Technology
Authors: James T. Brosnan, Gregory K. Breeden
Institution: University of Tennessee at Knoxville
Language: English
Subfield: Plant Science
Domain: Life Sciences
SDGs: Zero hunger, Life on land
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,550
OpenAlex ID: W7165769065
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