Bluegrass (Poa annua) – a perennial herbaceous crop widely used in decorative gardening and lawn mixes. The plant is characterized by a compact, dense turf-sphere 10 to 20 cm high, but can reach 2 m in nature. Thin leaves with a blue-green tint covering stems and shoots create an effective "sheen" of green stripes. Flowering begins in early summer: panicles with spikelets 5 to 15 mm long, light-green or yellowish flowers; after pollination, seeds form as grains.
Bluegrass is easily grown in an open sunny location and suits soils of any composition – sandy, clayey, fertile. The plant does not require complex procedures: it is not afraid of drought, frost, and pests, but needs regular watering during drought. Care includes soil loosening, mulching with small stones to suppress weeds, pruning shoots to 10 cm in the spring period and removing dry leaves and inflorescences.
The advantages of bluegrass – rapid growth, good drought resistance, ability to form a dense lawn. It is suitable for mixing with clover, meadow-grass and white clover in decorative mixes, and can also be used as a groundcover plant on rocky areas, in containers and balconies. Bluegrass is used in pasture mixes and as fodder for livestock, but in the absence of control of pests and fungal infections, lawn density may decrease.
