Perennial ryegrass is a cool season lawn variety. It has shade tolerance with a dark, glossy, rich green colour. Although perennial ryegrass is often used on its own without any problem, it is usually used as a companion grass and often used in combination with a warm season grass and other seed blends.
As the weather turns, perennial ryegrass will have high water requirements from spring and continuing through the summer, and will not tolerate either the heat or lack of water very well.
Fertilising perennial ryegrass will need to be done regularly with a quality lawn fertiliser. Mowing will need to be maintained frequently at a height of six to 12 mm throughout spring onwards, and may need to be done weekly. In some instances, a very healthy lawn done more often.
Perennial ryegrass is very prone to turf disease and grass insects and requires ongoing attention. Considering the maintenance it requires, perennial ryegrass is still used in cooler months because of its appearance and its qualities, such as shade tolerance.
Over-seeding warm season lawns with perennial ryegrass is a common practice, as lawns like couch lose their colour as they go into dormancy and shadows increase over lawns. Perennial ryegrass is the perfect companion grass to annually oversew into these warm season grasses to take its place, until the warm season grass becomes dominant again.