Annual Ryegrass, a Winter Blanket for your Garden

Amount per 1,000 sq. ft….2-3 lbs.

Approximate cost/lb….$0.55 ($23.50 for 50-pound bag.)

Varieties: very important to buy only annual ryegrass. Don’t be confused by similar crops or names.

Best time to plant: midsummer through early fall.

I plant annual ryegrass up to about 3 weeks before our first hard frost. It grows fast, but it needs time to put on some lush top growth before the cold weather hits. Like buckwheat, it can be planted in all regions and in all soils with good success.

Since it is an annual, the crop will not make it through our cold winters. By the time snow falls, it is pretty well killed off. The grass mats down as it dies and forms an insulating blanket over the soil. This blanket keeps the soil from freezing too deep, and allows earthworms and other soil life to work close to the surface. It also helps to stop water and wind erosion.

In the spring the annual rye- grass is partly decomposed and very easy to work into the soil. It does not delay planting of early vegetables. I can work the mat of dead grass into the soil and plant the same day. (I usually work the soil two or three times over the span of a week, however.)

Be very careful when shopping for annual ryegrass seed

Annual ryegrass is a widely available green manure crop, but some gardeners and seed store folks confuse it with “rye.” Rye-grass is a grass which grows only a couple of feet tall. Ryeis a grain crop from which we get rye flakes and rye flour. It grows 4 to 5 feet tall.

There are two kinds of rye- grass, and two kinds of rye.

Annual ryegrass

This is the kind of green manure seed to buy. Notice the word “annual.” This crop will live only one season. I plant it toward the end of the growing season and by the following spring, all the plants have died and the grass is partly decomposed. It will not start any new growth. If winter kills it, it won’t come back.

Perennial ryegrass

Perennial ryegrass is a real lawn grass and it looks just like annual ryegrass. Once you plant it, it will keep coming back each spring like a good lawn grass should.

Do not use perennial ryegrass as a green manure crop.

Winter rye

Winter rye is a grain crop, but many gardeners use it as a green manure crop. It is planted in the fall at least 2 or 3 weeks before the first fall frost. It grows right through fall until the cold weather stops it.

In the spring it resumes growth. Till it in when it is 10 or 12 inches high. If it gets much taller it is hard to till in. It also takes a while to decompose in the soil and can delay planting.

Spring rye

This grain crop is not grown much. The winters up North and in Canada are too harsh for a fall planting of winter rye to make it through in top shape. So folks plant spring rye in early spring and harvest it in late summer.

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