Photo of the week: dormant korai in a bentgrass green

This patch of korai (Zoysia matrella) is growing in a bentgrass putting green in Kagoshima, Japan. The tee and fairway turf at this course is korai, so there are seeds and stolons of korai around that allow the grass to spread. The photo was taken in January, when korai is dormant because of the cold.

Korai is customarily removed by sodding or plugging. In Japan, the pyraflufen-ethyl herbicide is also used to suppress korai in creeping bentgrass. Because almost all…