Types

• Two major varieties of ryegrass are available for planting: annual ryegrass and perennial ryegrass. Both are cool-season grasses and are best planted at about the same time, but they are used for very different purposes.
  
  

Time Frame

• Late summer and early fall is the time to plant ryegrass. You can plant as early as Aug. 15 or as late as October, depending on where you live. Hotter Southern areas should plant later than regions with a more moderate climate.
  
  

Considerations

• Annual ryegrass is rarely used as turf, but is an important forage crop in the American South. Landscapers frequently use perennial ryegrass for lawns, however. In hot climates, it is generally used as a temporary winter lawn, as warm-season grasses go dormant during the colder months. But in the cooler "transitional zone" of the Central U.S., it can form a permanent year-round lawn.