What Grass Turns Brown in Winter in Zone-6?

[jaykchan]

I would like to know the type of grass that is green and thick in warm weather and turns completely brown in winter year after year. I see this type of grass in a few people lawn near where I live (in Zone-6 Northern New Jersey). What is it?

Now, those lawns that have this grass are gradually turning green in a very even manner. I am wondering whether they are warm season grass that are planted in a cold region. That would have explained why they are growing well even in hot weather. But if that is the case, I am wondering how they can surrive the cold winter and bounce back now.

This type of grass tends to grow thick and not much weeds. But it turns to yellow/brown (more yellow than brown) in winter. Therefore, I would not like it in my lawn. I am asking this just for curiosity.

Thanks for any info.

Jay Chan

[trader4]

Sounds like Zoysia. It's suited to much warmer climates, but can easily grow in the northeast and survive hard winters. It goes a light brown, more like straw color in Oct in NJ and remains that way till May. One of my neighbors has it and it looks like hell. It's also very invasive and spreads through runners. I've seen it break up asphalt driveways by invading the cracks. In warm weather, it grows very dense and crowds out weeds.

[Heidi the Horrible]

Zoysia is a fabulous grass under the right conditions but NJ is probably too far north to make a nice lawn grass.

It is very thick, grows very slowly, requires almost no water, and rarely gets weeds. Here in N Virginia, it greens up earlier than bermuda and spreads slower than bermuda. It can also handle winter kill better than bermuda.

It will turn brown with the first good frost. We are beginning to green up the zoysia right now in VA but May is the real green-up time.

Zoysia is a nice grass for steep hillsides.

HtH

[Steveo]

Hi Jay.

That's Zoysia grass.

[jaykchan]

Thanks for the info that HtH, Steveo, and you have provided.

Your description of Zoysia fits perfectly with the grass that I see.

Good thing none of my adjacent neighbors have this type of grass in their lawn. I don't need to worry about if this grass spreads to my lawn. Its "straw" color surely doesn't look that great in the landscape.

Strange thing is that local home centers don't carry the grass seeds of this grass. Seem like the homeowners had gone out of the way to put this type of grass on their lawn.

Jay Chan

[trader4]

"Strange thing is that local home centers don't carry the grass seeds of this grass"

In this area, no one in their right mind would use it, os no one carries it. Plus, Zoysia is very difficult to grow from seed and is typically sold as plugs. The way it winds up in NJ is people read the little cute adds in the sunday paper describing it as a miracle grass and order it online or by mail.

[Winston Smith]

It was planted in my lawn by the previous owner for erosion control. At one point, the hillside had slipped and this was part of the solution, along with a staggered row blue spruce pines, to hold back the dirt. It has worked just fine in that regard for the last 20 years although it isn't the best looking grass I've ever seen.