Organic Pasture Grass Seed

• Festolium
• Perennial Ryegrass
• Meadow Fescue

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A cool season grass that grows in clumps, producing open sod. It's usually drought tolorant, but will withstand high light intensity . It will persist in shallow, reasonably infertile soil, and be moderately productive under those conditions. NIVA, is a late maturing, very winter hardy seed with good persistance and palatability.

Timothy is a tufted or single-stemmed, short-leaved perennial up to 5 feet tall. Stems are erect, purple or brown at the nodes, and often bulbous at the base. Leaf blades are flat, 1/8 to 1/4 inch wide, smooth to slightly rough. Sheaths are smooth. The spike is 1 to 5 inches long, very condensed, cylindrical, and 1/4 to 3/8 inch thick. Spilekets are one-flowered, compressed, green or often purple-tipped, turning dull brown in age.

Timothy provides good hay and is used as habitat and nesting cover for game birds, small mammals, and waterfowl. It is highly palatable and nutritious forage for big game animals, and the seeds are consumed by birds. If you brush hog(mow) fields for simple maintainance it is best to do it in the fall after the ground nesting birds have had time to raise their young and leave the site. Ground birds are a beautiful, necessary and threatened group of animals that are easily disturbed by farming, construction and other forms of habitat distruction.

Timothy is used widely for rehabilitation of sites disturbed by construction of railroads, canals, trails, and highways and sites altered by recreational activities. Timothy works well in stands with tall clovers like alsike Clover and Hairy Vetch. Germination requirement: Timothy can successfully germinate in either spring or late-summer. However, fall seedlings are more successful because the cooler weather during the fall is more suitable for timothy growth. Maximum germination usually occurs about 3 or 4 weeks after it is harvested.

For more aboput Timothy, click here.

Climax is a leafy variety that is rust resistant. Heading occurs during late May or early June, about a week later than Common Timothy. The best stands of Timothy are obtained when seeds are sown not deeper than 1/2 inch in a well-prepared soil. A firm seedbed is essential to the successful establishment of small-seeded grasses such as timothy. A firm seedbed allows greater regulation in seeding depth, holds moisture better, and increases seed-to-soil contact.

For more information about establishing Timothy seed, click this link for a pdf download.

Bromegrass is a leafy, deep-rooted, sod-forming perennial grass that is very persistent. It is best suited for hay or spring pasture. Forage quality compares well with other cool-season grasses. Grows best on well-drained silt-loam or clay-loam soils. Bromegrass will survive but go dormant during periods of drought and extremes in temperature. It requires early spring and fall applications of nitrogen to maintain high yields in a pure stand. Begin grazing at 8-10 inches and remove animals when eaten down to 4 inches. A re-growth period of 28 - 35 days between grazing periods is optimum. Seed early spring or late summer.

*Diploid cells - (meaning double in Greek) have two copies (homologs) of each chromosome
(both sex- and non-sex determining chromosomes), usually one from the mother and one from the father.
Most somatic cells (body cells) of higher organisms are diploid.

**Sward -The grassy surface of land; that part of the soil which is filled with the roots of grass; turf.
The sward was trim as any garden lawn. --Tennyson.Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)