Planting Ryegrass
Sowing ryegrass as a garden cover crop or for a cool weather pasture will enhance the soil. The deep-rooted plant breaks up difficult soils and germinates quickly to reduce soil erosion from late fall to winter precipitation. Ryegrass comes in two basic varieties, annual and perennial. Annual types of ryegrass are best suited for temporary stands, while perennial is planted for permanent pasture. According to Oregon State University, while annual ryegrass can reproduce itself through reseeding, the long bladed plant is controlled through mowing and killed by plowing or tilling the plant under the soil.
List:
Mechanical cultivation (rototiller or disc plow)
Ryegrass seed (9 pounds to 40 pounds per acre)
Garden or leaf rake
Cultivate the area in which the ryegrass is to be sown. Small garden areas can use a rototiller to break up the soil from mid September to mid October. Large fields will require the use of a disc plow or cultivator pulled by a tractor. While the ryegrass seed will germinate quickly, the more exposure to bare soil or contact the seed has, the better the germination rates.
Sow the ryegrass seed at a rate from 9 pounds to 40 pounds per acre. This corresponds to 2 pounds to 9 pounds per 1000 square feet of area. Seeding rates will depend on the amount of ryegrass to be grown. Consult your local agricultural extension service for land applications of ryegrass that concern special areas for water run off or erosion problems.
Cover the sown seed with soil. In small garden applications a leaf rake or garden rake is pulled over the sown seed. The action of the rake tines will cover the seed with soil.
Disk the soil in larger fields to cover the seed with soil. The disk cultivator can be utilized when pulled by a tractor.
Words to the Wise:
Lower seed rates can be used if a mechanical seed drill is used for ryegrass planting. The seed should be placed ½ inch to ¾ inches under the soil.
Chemicals released from the ryegrasses decomposition may prohibit germination of some lettuce and carrot seeds.
