Georgia Gardener Newsletter Highway Horticulture: February 23, 2006
Winter Ryegrass
Winter Ryegrass, aka Annual Ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum)
This stand of winter ryegrass was planted in late December.
I was a bit skeptical that it would germinate thoroughly.
However due to the warm temperatures and abundant rainfall in December and January, a
thick stand grew quickly, much to the relief of this developer.
Winter ryegrass is often used as a quick cover for roadside and development projects
as well as an annual seeded grass over dormant warm season turf grasses, such as bermuda.
The winter ryegrass will die in warm weather when these turf grasses begin to green up.
Never use winter ryegrass in a fescue lawn as both are cool season grasses and
once dead, there will be "holes" in the fescue lawn once occupied by the ryegrass.
Plant winter ryegrass in the fall or early winter. The soil temperatures must
be a minimum of 52-55 degrees for good germination.
For more information on winter ryegrass, visit this
website.
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