Winter Rye Grass

[carhoods]

When should this be planted in the north texas area. Now? Since it is cooler and wet.

[Robert D Bard]

now is a good time to plant rye and clovers.
I had the best luck with Marshal rye grass. I
had terrible experience with TAM 90 and
tetraploids - very little growth.
I suggest you try Oregon, Marshal, etc
and see which is best on your land. Then
next year go with the one that did the best
on your land.
Robert D Bard

[plevans]

Robert,

Can you recommend a place to buy rye and clover seed in bulk? I'm in Denison.

Patti

[Robert D Bard]

I don't know what to tell you. I am sure
some one in Sherman or Denison has rye
grass and clover. I buy all mine in Whitesboro
at Dennards because it is close and they
are nice people.
No one sells in bulk that I know. Everyone
sells in 50 lb bags. You need to decide what
type of grass you want. I use Marshall rye
because I get better stands than TAM 90,
Oregon rye, Gulf coast rye, and some of the
other varieties. Clover is a problem because
most of it gets course and cows don't like it.
Some varieties cause bloat. I am going to
plant some crimson clover just because I like
the red colored flowers in the spring. I will use
something else but don't know which brand yet.
Good luck,
Robert D Bard

[plevans]

Which kinds of clover don't cause bloat?

[Robert D Bard]

Yucci white is suppose to be the best, but
all can if you let it grow and then turn them
in to field and leave them. You need to graze
for 2 to 3 hours first day and then increase
some each day. Or you can start with seedlings
and leave in pasture all the time.
Robert Bard

[Bluestem]

My experience has been the cows/horses prefer crimson vs yucci arrowleaf. crimson also starts growing sooner and ends earlier in the spring.

[Robert D Bard]

I am trying a new clover called Ball. It is from Turkey originally. It has smaller stem. I will report on it next year.
Robert D Bard

[tgoodwin]

I take for granted you are talking about cereal Rye rather than Rye grass people overseed their yard with. Cereal Rye gives a lot more forage.

[Tricky Grama]

Might as well ask what I should do. Planning a garden for the 1st time & have open areas of buffalo grass, (I think) pasture weeds like milk weed, indigo, Indian blanket, some stickery big weeds. I've read about the no-till method but don't see how I can just plant clover/alfalfa/rye this fall & then plant a garden w/o tilling this spring. The dirt is 100% better than when we bought the land 4 years ago, just b/c we've mowed, I guess. But it's still hard black over white. Don't I have to 'scratch' the surface somehow to plant the cover crop? What about planting veges in the spring?

Thanks-

Patty

[Robert D Bard]

No-till is used more in agriculture to save fuel
on land that has already been disked at some point.
I would till lightly or scratch the suface before
putting seeds out and then drag and/or scratch
after the seed to increase ground contact.
In the spring I would till lightly to kill grasses
and then till heavier in the beds where you
plant your plants. The plants and roots will
replace the humus that has been farmed and
burned out of our soils.
Robert Bard

[Tricky Grama]

Thanks! Sounds like a program we can do. We'll probably try to have a full acre of veges.

Patty