Six cool season grasses will be covered: Kentucky Bluegrass, smooth Bromegrass, Orchardgrass, Reed canarygrass, Tall fescue, and Timothy.
Kentucky Bluegrass is a common cool season grass in permanent pastures. It is usually unproductive during the hot summer months and total yearly production maybe less than other cool season grasses.
It can be identified by the tip of the leaf blade. The blade is narrow and boat-shaped with the tip resembling a canoe.
It seldom grows over two feet tall and has an open seed head.
Bromegrass is an excellent, sod-forming forage producer that does well in combination with legumes.
Orchardgrass is fairly shade tolerant. It's a tall bunch grass that does well with legumes.
In immature stages, there is a papery membrane where the leaf attaches to the main stem. This often tears into shreds as plant heads out.
The young stems are flat, and the leaves are V-shaped.
Reed canarygrass is frequently used in waterways and other wet areas. It is a productive forage on most soils and has high quality when harvested before maturity.
The leaves are wide and flat.
Like orchardgrass, reed canarygrass has a papery membrane where the leaf attaches to the stem.
Tall fescue is a robust, coarse, long-lived bunch grass that forms a sod in well-managed stands.
A fescue field has a shine to it. The underside of the leaf is smooth and shiny as is ryegrass.
The leaf is a dark green in color, and the top side is deeply ribbed.
Timothy, mainly a hay crop, is used in both pure stands or in mixture with a legume, often red clover.
Its leaves are rolled in the bud shoot and the membrane is notched on one or both sides.
Its easily recognizable head is densely flowered, cylindrical and spike-like.
This covers the major forage grasses.
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Season Grasses 