Fall or winter rye (Secale cereale) is a cereal that makes for an excellent nurse crop for fall sown wildflower mixes. Fall rye is a soil builder, prevents erosion, suppresses weeds and improves soil drainage and aeration. Fall rye should ideally be sown with your wildflower mix in the fall after a hard frost (early October to end of November, depending on your area) but when the soil is still workable. The rye and wildflower seed will remain dormant until the following spring. At the end of the first growing season a late summer mowing to 15cm height of the wildflower meadow (including the fall rye) is required to prevent the fall rye from setting seed.
Application rate when used as a nurse crop:
- 200g/ 1,000 ft2
- 500 g/ 2,500 ft2
- 1 KG/ 5,000 ft2
- 8-12 KG/ acre
- 30-50 KG/ ha
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Growing Instructions
No pre-treatment required. Ensure existing vegetation is removed from site and soil is loosened. Sow seed at 1 inch depth in the fall.