High sugar ryegrass

homegrownbucks

5 year old buck +
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A plot I put sucraseed sweet spot in seems to have regenerated high sugar ryegrass. It looks to be seeding out, I assume this needs to be kept mowed to be attractive but wanted to see if anyone had experience.
 
Yes it should be kept mowed, it helps with the clover that was added to that mix. atleast it's good fawning cover right now. How did you like that mix? I know some people that swear by it. Supposedly the high sugar grass is supposed to help the deer digest better if I recall.
 
I planted some 3 years ago, I am still trying to kill it off.


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I can't say I noticed any preference to it vs all our other offerings. Now it's just pure rye grass, no clover. We actually had a fall plot on top of this spot last year and it's came reappeared, but I want to give it a chance this year and put a camera in there to see if there is use. I guess we will mow it and see
 
I planted a bag of throw and go last year. The plot is now covered in this stuff. The deer and turkeys are hitting it pretty good but the grasses are shading out the clover. I am going to weed whack it a month or so to give the clover a boost.
 
I find ryegrass invasive in my area. Most of the BOB companies that use is do so because it is so easy to grow. Deer will eat it but it is not high on the preference list. It is really hard to screw up. So, folk new to food plotting plant the BOB mix and think it worked great cause there are deer in the plot and it is green. They then spend the next few years trying to get rid of the stuff. Not all soils or climates are the same, and I'm sure it is less problematic in some areas than others.

I know there are some very experienced guys that have found a way to incorporate ryegrass into their program, but I don't recommend it for most folks. There may be a spot where nothing else will grow due to the shade in a small micro plot in the hardwoods where there is little chance of it escaping where I may use it. In general though, I found no significant place in my program for it.

Thanks,

Jack
 
I have a bunch of sweet spot planted and it never seeds out. Deer keep it mowed so well that I don't do anything to it except blow the leaves off. I'm wondering if you had some previous thro-n-grow with gulf rye in that area? As many of us have learned that normal rye grass is invasive and useless. The high sugar rye is very sweet if you chew on it. I've had amazing success with it in the big woods areas (upper Michigan) however it won't compete with ag fields though if in a ag area. (Tried at home and doesn't get much attention)

I've actually replaced the lawn at our cottage with this stuff. Lawn mower is useless now. Just wish the deer would trim around the stairs down to the lake better.
 
I've actually replaced the lawn at our cottage with this stuff. Lawn mower is useless now. Just wish the deer would trim around the stairs down to the lake better.

This is genius. I don't own a lake place. But a couple of buddies that do, and have a decent deer population around, might be able to use this tidbit! No more mowing. It'd be nice if they just had to weed wack.
 
My neighbors laughed when I told them why I sprayed gly on my old lawn. 2 years later they want me to do their yard this year. Only downside is you're gonna step in some $hit on occasion
 
No regular rye grass there, but I did try some annual in a different area this year, hoping it isn’t a problem to terminate it come spring
 
How does sweet plot hold up in wet areas?
 
How does sweet plot hold up in wet areas?
On ground that stays wet it grows (not ideal but works) if flooded for more than a few days it's dead. I'd mix in some extra alsike clover if you have a wet area. As it will thrive in wet as well as pump out a little extra N which the high sugar rye can use anyways.
Note that this stuff doesn't handle heavy traffic so if you plant on Trails you frequent with a quad or equipment often then I'd also up the clover content to avoid that 'two track' look.. My experience is it always stays soft and thin, which is likely why the deer enjoy it and it's easy to terminate when needed.
I was very skeptical at first as any rye grass is scary... however this is a different plant from my experiences.
 
The place it grows on our land is pretty wet, typically too wet to plant in spring at the bottom of a valley
 
Not sure what kind of grass it is but I noticed last week that the deer were digging through the snow to eat whatever kind of grass is at our campsite. The sugar beets are about 400 yrds. away and are being mostly ignored.
 
I planted a couple acres of High Sugar Ryegrass several years ago. Although it doesn't get a lot of use from late spring thru fall, it is a very good winter forage. I have some slopes that are prone to erosion when I plant it in clover, cereal rye or brassica because the deer eat those to the dirt. There's noting but mud by the time the late winter, early spring rain comes.
But the HSR gets moderate winter browsing so I know my deer like it, but it's also really durable. The HSR really holds up and protects my soil.
The problem that I'm now having is Japanese Stilt grass is starting to creep into the ryegrass. There aren't any herbicides that will control the Japanese crap without killing the HSR.
 
I planted a couple acres of High Sugar Ryegrass several years ago. Although it doesn't get a lot of use from late spring thru fall, it is a very good winter forage. I have some slopes that are prone to erosion when I plant it in clover, cereal rye or brassica because the deer eat those to the dirt. There's noting but mud by the time the late winter, early spring rain comes.
But the HSR gets moderate winter browsing so I know my deer like it, but it's also really durable. The HSR really holds up and protects my soil.
The problem that I'm now having is Japanese Stilt grass is starting to creep into the ryegrass. There aren't any herbicides that will control the Japanese crap without killing the HSR.
Can you spot spray the JSG and not worry about the ryegrass? I would think it would fill in fairly quickly.
 
I planted a couple acres of High Sugar Ryegrass several years ago. Although it doesn't get a lot of use from late spring thru fall, it is a very good winter forage. I have some slopes that are prone to erosion when I plant it in clover, cereal rye or brassica because the deer eat those to the dirt. There's noting but mud by the time the late winter, early spring rain comes.
But the HSR gets moderate winter browsing so I know my deer like it, but it's also really durable. The HSR really holds up and protects my soil.
The problem that I'm now having is Japanese Stilt grass is starting to creep into the ryegrass. There aren't any herbicides that will control the Japanese crap without killing the HSR.
Can you spot spray the JSG and not worry about the ryegrass? I would think it would fill in fairly quickly.
Not really...too much of it invading.
And there's some other grasses getting into it as well.
My plan is to rotate it to Sunflowers this summer and follow up with something I haven't figured out yet.

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Spray the stilt grass with whatever you want after the ryegrass goes to seed. Stiltgrass is a warm season annual. You will have to break the seeding cycle to ever get rid of it. I’d get rid of both, personally, but it sounds like the ryegrass works for you.


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