What Is Winter Grass and How to Manage It.

Cooper Hough
Jul 10, 2025
3 min read

Updated: Oct 13, 2025

If you’ve noticed soft, light green patches popping up in your lawn during winter — chances are you’re looking at winter grass. It might appear harmless, but this persistent weed can cause long-term damage if not properly managed.

At Hough Turf and Garden Supplies, we help passionate gardeners take care of their lawns using the same professional-grade products trusted by the top turf managers across Australia.

Here’s everything you need to know about winter grass and how to keep it under control.

Winter grass (poa annua) appearing in your lawn.

What Exactly Is Winter Grass?

Winter grass (Poa annua) is a common cool-season weed that thrives in autumn and winter and then dies off as temperatures rise in late spring and summer. It’s easily identifiable by its soft texture, light green colour, and boat-shaped leaf tips. It often forms in tufts or clumps and can produce seed heads even when freshly mowed.

Key traits:

Germinates in autumn, thrives in winter, dies off in summer.
Grows quickly in moist, shady, or compacted areas.
Produces thousands of seeds, leading to future outbreaks.
Leaves bare patches in summer when it dies back.

Why It’s a Problem.

Although it can blend into your lawn during the colder months, winter grass becomes a nuisance once it dies off, leaving:

Unsightly bare patches.
Weakened root systems.
A higher chance of other weeds invading.
Ongoing cycles of re-germination from leftover seed.

It competes directly with your desirable turf and is difficult to manage once established — especially without a prevention strategy.

How to Manage Winter Grass.

Managing winter grass effectively involves a mix of good lawn care habits and strategic seasonal planning. Even without herbicides, there’s a lot you can do to give your lawn the upper hand.

1. Improve Lawn Health Year-Round.

The strongest defence against winter grass is a dense, healthy, and competitive lawn.

Mow regularly (but not too short): Keep your grass strong by only removing one-third of the leaf blade at a time.
Water wisely: Deep, infrequent watering encourages deep root systems and discourages weed growth.
Fertilise in autumn: A well-fed lawn heading into winter is better at resisting weed invasion.

Pro tip: Healthy lawns naturally outcompete weeds like winter grass.

2. Aerate and De-compact.

Winter grass thrives in compacted or waterlogged soil, which makes aeration essential — especially before and during the cooler months.

Use a garden fork or mechanical aerator to open up the soil.
Combine aeration with a soil conditioner like Hough SoilFix to improve soil structure and drainage.

Hough SoilFix supports root growth and nutrient uptake, making it an excellent ally in your fight against weeds.

3. Manual Removal (for Light Infestations).

If you’ve only got a few patches of winter grass, hand-pulling can be effective — just make sure to:

Remove the entire root system.
Dispose of the weeds carefully to avoid spreading seeds.

It’s not a solution for larger outbreaks, but it can help manage smaller spots without chemicals.

4. Renovate in Spring.

When winter grass dies off in late spring or early summer, it often leaves behind patchy, weakened areas. That’s where a spring renovation can make all the difference.

Renovation steps:

Scarify or de-thatch to remove dead matter.
Topdress with a high-quality sand loam or organic mix.
Overseed or re-sow bare areas
Apply our Turf Starter Mix to support rapid regrowth.

We recommend timing renovations for early October, giving your lawn the best chance to bounce back before summer hits.

5. Looking Ahead: Pre- and Post-Emergent Solutions

While we currently don’t stock herbicides, we know how valuable they are in long-term winter grass control. That’s why we’re working hard behind the scenes to introduce pre- and post-emergent herbicide solutions for our customers by next winter.

These products will: