How Do You Identify Ryegrass

A fine-textured, rich green grass with the leaf folded in the bud. Leaf margins are parallel, the back of the leaf is shiny, and the tips of the leaf blades are tapered. The collar usually has outgrowths (auricles) that clasp the stem. Ryegrass may form clumps where marginally adapted.

What are the characteristics of ryegrass?

Ryegrass is a bunch grass, which means it emerges in clumps and spreads by tillers, or secondary shoots. Other characteristics of rye grass include a bright, shiny green color, coarse texture and dense growth habit.

How can you tell the difference between perennial and annual ryegrass?

As the name suggests, annual ryegrass is a short-lived grass used to provide quick color, short-term erosion control or temporary stability for a season. Turf-type perennial ryegrass is used in those same ways, but it comes back year after year in northern climates to establish a permanent lawn.