How to Kill Perennial Rye Grass

When and how to kill the perennial ryegrass in your lawn.

For that southern lawn care nuts that like to keep a green lawn all season long during the winter months will typically over-seed their lawns with an annual or perennial ryegrass. This practice is what keeps us out in the yard during the colder part of the year to enjoy a green thick lawn.

With that being said, it has to be understood that once the winter months begin to end and your southern lawn such as Bermuda begins to come out of dormancy, certain preparations need too be made. In this case, for those that over-seeded their Bermuda lawns with rye grass will need to take necessary steps to kill the rye grass in order to allow the Bermuda ample time to come out of dormancy and begin its growth stages. Failing to either mechanical or chemical treat a rye grass lawn prior to your Bermuda coming out of dormancy can hinder the green up process and delay your Bermuda lawn care season.

In our video below we are discussion the simply process of targeting our perennial ryegrass over-seeding last November of 2020 with a chemical herbicide known as MSM (Metsulfuron Methyl). It should be noted here that when spraying herbicides, THE LABEL IS THE LAW. As you will notice we are using an extremely small amount of this product for our 1,000 sq. ft. backyard. If over applied or used at the max rate during the wrong time of the season can cause harm to your lawn. MSM is rated to control weedy grasses such as Rye, Bahiagrass as well as many other broadleaf weeds.

How to Kill Rye Grass

How using a herbicide like MSM works to kill ryegrass is simply that once you spray the chemical onto your ryegrass, the plant will uptake the solution through the foilage and absorbed it through the root system by blocking cell division for continued growth.

The timing of your application prior to your Bermuda lawn coming out of dormancy is key. Here in El Paso, Texas, we target the ryegrass 5-6 weeks prior to our soil temperatures reach a consistent 65-70 degrees. Doing an application this early allows time for follow-up treatment if necessary.