Pasture ryegrass belongs to the Myatlikov family. The plant is used to create sports fields, professional football fields, industrial lawns, etc. Also, grass is used for replanting.
Description of ryegrass
Perennial ryegrass (perennial) is a cereal, semi-upper, friable bush plant. In the first season, it forms a dense lawn carpet (40-60 shoots per sq. Dm.). The root system is powerful, well-branched. It forms a dense turf, perfectly holds the soil. In the grass stand 5-7 years.
Leaves are 10-20 cm long and 3-5 mm wide. The plates taper from the base to the ends. The upper part of the leaves is moderately glossy, the lower has a glass luster. Shade from dark emerald to light green. Veins are located along the entire plate, pronounced. There is a noticeable keel on the underside. The base is pinkish.
The ryegrass tolerates shade well, is resistant to trampling. It grows rapidly, is independently restored on the lawn after a drought or a partial slant.
However, it does not tolerate frosts, snowy winters. Because of this, bald spots appear on the lawn.
With prolonged cold weather it can completely get out of the grass stand. It tolerates a fairly low temperature (-16 ... 18 ° C) if there is no snow cover.
Advantages and disadvantages
Ryegrass has the following advantages:
- provides long service life of a lawn;
- resistant to trampling, high loads;
- grows quickly and retains green color for a long time;
- tolerates dry weather and shade;
- not afraid of regular mowing, grows evenly;
- well fixes unstable soil (often used on roadsides, small slopes, etc.);
- seeds are sold both without various impurities and as part of herbal mixtures.
The most significant drawback for our climatic conditions is that ryegrass does not tolerate frosts.
Due to cold weather, the plant wears out quickly and keeps grass less than stated (3-4 years).
Also, the disadvantages include the fact that the grass is demanding on the level of acidity of the substrate, its nutritional value.
It does not tolerate excessive moisture. Therefore, prolonged rains adversely affect its decorativeness.
Features of lawn care with ryegrass
It is only possible to plant ryegrass on fertile land with a low pH. If the acidity is high, wood ash is added to the soil. It is also desirable that the landing site is well lit.
Caring for ryegrass is quite simple. It needs periodic mowing, cleaning of residues, regular watering (as the top layer of the substrate dries). Sometimes it is necessary to apply fertilizer for better growth.
Perennial ryegrass is actively used for lawn decoration. The grass grows quickly, retains freshness for a long time, does not get trampled. However, there is a huge minus: the plant does not tolerate the climate in the middle zone of Russia, so its planting is not always advisable.
