Green Manure/Rye Grass

 Last autumn (September/October 2024), I tried four different green manures: forage rye, bird's foot trefoil, forage pea and field beans. Forage rye and field beans were, by far, the most successful sowings as green manures. In this post I will discuss the use of forage rye as a green manure. Field beans will be discussed in a subsequent post.

After clearing the brassica plot, rye grass seeds were broadcast and gently raked into the soil in September 2024. Germination was rapid, and within a month (Photo 1), the rye grass had established itself, albeit somewhat patchily and in competition with various weeds (Photo 2).

Photo 1: Quick Germinating Forage Rye (7th October)

Photo 2: Forage Rye/Weeds(15th November 2024)

The weeds were removed by hand and added to the hot compost bins before resowing some more forage rye seed into the gaps. Although the winter season was not harsh, the rye grass died back (Photo 3) ...

Photo 3: Dormant Forage Rye? (10th March 2025)

... but recovered without any intervention once the warmer spring weather arrived (Photo 4) ...

Photo 4: Rejuvenated Forage Rye (27th March 2025)

... and continued to grow strongly throughout the warm spring months (Photo 5) ...

Photo 5: Forage Rye (18th April 2025)

Mid-April would have been a good time to cut down the forage rye and dig into the soil. Unfortunately, I missed that opportunity and the grass continued growing (Photo 6).

Photo 6: Forage Rye Crop (4th May 2025)

Option B was to pull up the grass and roughly cut into six-inch pieces with strong scissors (Photo 7) ... 

Photo 7: Chopped Forage Rye (4th May 2025)

... before feeding to the shredder (Photo 8) ...

Photo 8: Shredded Forage Rye (4th May 2025)

... and adding to the hot compost bins as a useful source of 'green waste'.

Sowing forage rye as a green manure reduces nutrient leaching and suppresses/smothers weed growth. In spring, it can be dug in, cut and left on the ground as a mulch or pulled up and added to a compost heap. I will be using it again this autumn!