How to Grow Bromegrass

Bromegrass is a rapid growing, long-lived, perennial sod grass typically grown as early spring pasture or for hay. Bromegrass, which is not suitable as a turf grass, grows 15 to 30 inches tall with long, narrow, hairy stems. Known as smooth bromegrass, or Bromus inermis, all three varieties -- southern, intermediate, and northern -- are hardy in winter. There are a few differences in the varieties. The southern type is recommended for use in dry lands receiving at least 14 inches of annual rainfall, while the northern type is recommended for use in irrigated hay fields and pastureland.

Bromegrass seed
Tractor
Seed drill attachment or hopper-type fertilizer attachment
Disk attachment, rake or hoe
Nitrogen fertilizer

Instructions

- 1
  Select a field or area for the seedbed with well-draining silt-loam or clay-loam soils. Bromegrass needs a pH of 5.5 or higher, and it grows best with a pH of 6.0 to 7.0.
- 2
  Prepare the seedbed for planting by lightly disking it with a tractor, or digging and raking a smaller area by hand, a few weeks before planting. Use herbicides if necessary to discourage germinating weeds.
- 3
  Plant bromegrass seeds in a firm, moist seedbed in either spring or late summer.
- 4
  Use a seed drill attachment for a tractor to plant bromegrass seed. Use a hopper-type fertilizer spreader calibrated for seed to broadcast bromegrass, or broadcast the seed by hand in small areas.
- 5
  Plant seeds at a depth of 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep.
- 6
  Use 20 pounds of seed per acre if you're planting bromegrass alone, or 5 pounds if you're planting in combination with other seeds, such as alfalfa, timothy or wheat. That equates to a planting rate of 50 seeds per square foot alone, or 15 seeds in combination.
- 7
  Apply nitrogen fertilizer once in early spring at a rate of 50 pounds per acre, and again after each of the first two harvests, then fertilize annually.

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