Rye Grass

[Freckles]

I have just planted a mix of annual and perennial rye grass. A friend tells me the perennial rye grass will stay green year round and I could be mowing my lawn on Christmas day. Is that possible?

[Andy]

Andy suggests:

Do a google search on ' rye grass" and find the planting dates.. My recollection is that rye won't begin to germinate till the average ground temp is below 70F or so... and that is right on the surface...

Rye is a cool weather grass. It will be green and need to be mowed,

all winter. It dies in the heat of the summer. In Texas , that is May..... and starts growing in November.....

Perennial will re-emerge with the cold weather. Annual stays dead.....

Sure, they sell rye in the stores in the summer, but they assume either the customer knows not to plant it till fall, or that they will come back and buy some more when it doesn't germinate....

Now, some of my points may be mis-remembered, but if you do the google search and find out for yourself, you will have a lot of useful knowledge.

Andy in Eureka, Texas

[C & E]

If you are living in a temperate climate I guess so. I colder climates it becomes dormant and stops growing. The annual rye grass is in the mix for a fast green up, assisting with appearance as well as erosion control. The perennnial species is what becomes your lawn. Most mixes have these two species as well as fescue of some sort and possibly a blue grass. Why are you only planting rye grass?

[Phisherman]

Depends on your climate/location.

[m Ransley]

Perrennial means it comes back next yer, annual means it dies on first full hard freezing of the ground. Rye is not the prefered grass in my area Zone 5-6, it looks to yellow for one thing.

[Richard J Kinch]

Which hemisphere you at?

[Freckles]

North Central Texas

[trader4]

Here in NJ my lawn, which is blue grass/tall fescue, stays green most of the winter. It only goes off color soemwhat late Jan/Feb. Then it quickly greens up by early April. In TX, that time should be longer. I'm not sure that rye grass is any better at staying green than the other cool season grasses. I also usually mow my lawn for the last time in mid Dec to late Dec, as it's still slowly growing a one last trim keeps it looking good.

But why are you planting any grass now, which is the worst possible time?

[Bob S.]

In central Alabama rye grass is green only in the spring. Annual rye greens & dies. Perennial rye greens, dies, and comes back the next spring. Rye is only used here as a temporary grass until a permanent grass gets started.

Bob S.

[Freckles]

I'm only planting it under a few bare spots beneath my oak trees. I know this is not the best time of year for planting grass, but it is coming up and looks great. I just hate the thought of putting on a parka to mow my lawn when it starts getting colds.

[Freckles]

I have a nice looking lawn, except for under my trees, don't know what kind of grass it is though.

I've tried growing many other types of grass under those trees, and so far rye is the only grass i've found that will grow in that much shade.

[PipeDown]

I mowed my lawn last Christmas but round here it's only in the 50s in the winter (san Jose, CA). If its cold enough to wear a parka, the grass will be dormant or nearly so and the growth rate will be very slow.

[Andy]

Freckles wrote:>

Andy responds

I'm in North Central Texas also... I've had no luck with rye in the summer but I'm going to try your plan of planting it in the shade to see if it comes up...... All the websites on rye say plainly that it won't germinate in hot weather, but if it worked for you, I'll throw a few handfuls out and see what happens.....

[abc]

This sounds like a question for SANTA CLAUS. However, I can tell you that you'll be making lots of rye bread.

[PipeDown]

Is Lawn Rhy Grass the same as the Rhy plant (also a grass but not a lawn grass) we use to make grain?