Timothy grass, description
Timothy grass grows in fields, meadows, along roads and even in the mountains. This common plant belongs to the bluegrass family and is used as feed for cattle, sheep, goats, and horses.
Description of timothy meadow
There are about 27 plant species, mostly all of them are perennials. They are characterized by high frost resistance and tolerance to soil acidity and mineralization. However, they do not tolerate drought and high humidity.
Timothy grass is found in meadows and in highlands
Powerful roots form thickenings that go almost a meter underground. The stems are cylindrical, hollow inside, stretching straight up, reaching 120 cm in height.
The leaves of the plant are narrow, flat and strongly elongated – from 0,4 to 1 cm in width and up to 42 cm in length. Leaves are hard, hanging down a little. Dense spikelets of regular cylindrical shape up to 11 cm. The upper inflorescences are the first to open, bloom for 5-7 days. Active life begins in mid-spring, and flowers appear only after 50-60 days.
Timothy’s fruits are so small that there are about a thousand seeds in one gram. The fruits ripen only 80-90 days after the shoots have faded in the spring. After growing, they die off.
Where is timothy grass applied
Timofeyevka is actively used in the economic industry, as well as in landscaping the site.
- Forage culture. It is an excellent food for livestock and rabbits. It is used in pastures as a green top dressing and for making hay and silage. The value of the plant in its protein component is not less than 16%, more than half of which is assimilated by animals. The harvest can amount to hundreds of centners per hectare of green fodder, and hay from 25 to 123 centners per hectare. High yields are obtained if it is grown together with red clover and other perennial grains.
- Lawn grass. This perennial can reach a height of about one and a half meters, so you will have to cut it often, which does not have a very good effect on the plant. An ideal option if timothy in the composition of lawn grasses will be no more than 17%. When planting grass on your site, you need to take into account that its pollen can cause an allergic reaction.
This plant takes root well where other herbs do not grow. Only poorly tolerates sandy, very swampy and saline areas.
The plant is sown in spring using a complex nitrogen-containing fertilizer. Timothy can grow in one area for 8-10 years without re-sowing. However, they try to update or replace it with new crops every 5 years. It is widely used as a forage crop and for landscaping.