Perennial ryegrass is a very competitive cool-season grass. It prefers full sun but will tolerate partial shade. Perennial ryegrass has the highest wear-tolerance of any cool-season grass and can tolerate high traffic. It is often used around homes, schools, and parks. Because it germinates quickly, it is often used for overseeding winter-dormant bermudagrass lawns. Its rapid emergence helps to suppress weeds. For a more traffic and disease-resistant turf, it is often mixed with Kentucky bluegrass. Ryegrass is easy to spot in a lawn due to its shine. Also, it leaves a "whitish" cast when mowed. It is a bunchgrass, which germinates quickly and is often found in grass seed mixtures with Kentucky bluegrass.
- Width: 1/8" wide
- Tip/blade: pointed tip
- Color: dark green, but lighter than bluegrass, and shiny on one side of the blade
- Feel: soft
- Growth: grows quickly from seed; a bunch-type grass that won't fill in naturally like bluegrass
- Additional: has visible veins on the blade; shreds when mowed with a dull blade; broad collar; sheaths below ground are reddish in color
