Price range: £1.85 through £85.00
Green manure for winter use. Improves soil structure, suppresses weeds and prevents the leeching of nutrients by the winter rain.
Sow August-October. Dig in during the Spring.
1Kg covers approx. 100m2
Rate per acre: 40Kg
Green Manure, Grazing Rye
Latin name Secale cereale
Approximate coverage 56m2 per Kg, 72Kg per acre
Green manures are plants grown specifically to improve the soil. They do this in a number of ways: by being deep rooted; by covering the soil to prevent leaching of nutrients; by fixing nitrogen; by breaking up the soil with fibrous root structures. In all cases they are dug or mulched back into the soil adding organic matter which helps retain moisture and feeds the soil’s beneficial organisms. To dig in chop up the green manure with a spade and turn it into the top few inches, 10-12cm or so, of soil. Mulching out is the easier option, cut down if necessary and leave the clippings on the soil then cover to exclude the light using cardboard and grass cuttings or a biodegradable ground cover. Keep covered for at least 6 weeks, but longer if you do not need the ground, by which time most of the green manure would have broken down and incorporated into the soil by earthworms.
Good soil is the major and underlying principle for organic growing and green manures play a vital role. Use them to cover bare ground particularly over winter.
Grazing rye is a great overwintering green manure. It forms a dense mat of ground cover which prevents nutrients leeching out during winter rains and suppresses weeds. The root system is vigorous and good for breaking up and aerating the soil. Grazing rye produces an abundance of nitrogen rich foliage which is released back into the soil for the next crop.
How to grow
Sow August – October.
Normally you would have recently harvested a crop from the ground where now you are going to grow green manure. In which case not much cultivation is required. Fork or rake over to get a fairly good tilth and remove any weeds. Scatter the seed over evenly and lightly rake in. Water the seedlings if the weather is very dry.
When to dig in
Grazing rye is very hardy and will overwinter. Dig in the following spring, it is bulky and quite hard work but worth it. Alternatively cut it down and mulch out.
Allow it to be properly broken down before sowing seed as it produces a chemical which can affect the germination of some small seeds. Transplants are not affected.