Eliminating zoysia without chemicals

[ZoysiaSod]

Everyone knows zoysiagrass is a tough grass to get rid of. Why anyone would want to get rid of it, I don't know because zoysia is so gorgeous in the spring and summer. But I found a page at URI that claims you can get rid of zoysia naturally, without chemicals. Here's the quoted passage:

"Many people plant zoysiagrass with the hope that it will solve all their lawn problems. After observing it for one or two winters, some people change their minds and hope to eliminate it. Their task is not easy.

"If you do not wish to use chemicals, or if complete or fast elimination is not required, you can use the following procedures.

1. Fertilize in September and October only.
2. Raise the height of cut to 3 inches or higher. After several years, this type of management encourages the cool-season turfgrasses to overtake the zoysiagrass.

"Faster elimination is possible. You would have to kill the entire zoysia lawn with a non-selective weed killer such as glyphosate, then renovate and reseed (CAUTION: glyphosate is not available for sale in Rhode Island--you will need to order it from an advertisement in a gardening magazine or newspaper)." [End of passage]

The web link is:

would those 2 steps above (fertilizing only in September and October and raising the cutting height to 3 inches) encourage cool-season grass to overtake zoysia?

I can kinda see that the Sept/Oct fertilizing would favor cool-season grasses since they're waking up from their summer slumber while zoysia is falling asleep, but why would a 3-inch or more cutting height hamper zoysia in favor of cool-season grasses?

I think I usually cut my zoysia kinda high (because I almost always cut it on Wheel Setting 4 of a 5-setting mower. Would this step alone hinder my zoysia in favor of the cool-season grasses? I never fertilize in September or October.

[trader4]

I haven't tried the above procedure, but from my experience, I agree, it doesn't seem likely to work. I've seen Zoysia drive out cool season grass in lawns without regard to cutting height or amount of fertilization or lact thereof.

As to why you'd want to get rid of it, if it's growing in a northern climate it looks like dead straw from Oct till May. I live in coastal NJ which isn't all that cold and IMO, it's not suitable for a lawn here. Another consideration is if you have neighbors who's lawns are contiguous with yours, zoysia will invade it and take over. It's like planting bamboo. By choosing it you're forcing it on someone else who may not like it.

Around here I'd consider it for secondary areas, areas where I don't want to worry about weeds, want something aggressive, etc.

[ZoysiaSod]

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I understand your point about zoysia invading a neighbor's lawn, and I wouldn't want to interfere with my neighbor's choice of grass. But I would think if a neighbor really doesn't care for zoysia, they could always pull the zoysia before the grass gets more than a foot into their lawn. Unlike fast-spreading Bermuda, Zoysia doesn't spread more than probably 8 to 12 inches a year.

Lots of folks love zoysia. It's gorgeous in spring and summer :-)

My neighbor loves henbit--well, not really, but you'd think he loves henbit because his backyard is nothing but henbit and crabgrass [Lol]. Henbit can make inroads into zoysia, I think. I've been pulling his henbit from my zoysia whenever the henbit encroaches. I was outside today in cold weather doing just that.

[willshak]

Aren't you the nice neighbor. Your grass invades his lawn and HE is supposed to work to stop it? Better you put some sort of physical barrier one foot in from the property line on your side to prevent the rhizomes from invading his lawn. The barrier will have to be buried deep enough to reach below the depth of the rhizomes.

[trader4]

My thoughts exactly. I'd just love to do that along a 200 ft border.

And extends high enough to keep the runners from going over the top of it.

I can show you fields here where it easily spreads 2X-3X that rate. Just like other grasses, there are different varieties of zoysia and some spread faster than others.

Even around here, coastal NJ, it isn't gorgeous in Spring. It looks like dead straw for about six weeks of Spring when cool season grasses are already nice and green. And right now it's looked like dead straw for over a month, while those cool season grasses are still all green.

[ZoysiaSod]

Most people in my suburban St. Louis neighborhood have Zoysia (probably Meyer Z-52). Some have a mix of fine fescue (probably Boreal) and KBG. The transition zone of St. Louis is so welcoming to diversity, that there are even a couple people in the neighborhood who have Bermuda (probably Common). Cool-season and warm-season grasses get along fine in St. Louis.

My neighbor to the right has zoysia like me, but my neighbor to the left has fine fescue and KBG (well that's in his front yard--in his backyard he has nothing but henbit and crabgrass which I pull when it encroaches into my yard).

I believe the laws say if your neighbor has a tree you don't like, and the tree has some branches that encroach into the air space of your yard, you cannot cut down your neighbor's tree, but you can cut down the branches that encroach into your yard's air space, if you like.

You know, even my neighbor with the fine fescue/KGB mix doesn't care what kind of grass he has. When I briefly talked to him about the henbit and crabgrass weeds in his backyard, he blithely smiled and said "As long as it's green, he doesn't mind." [chuckle]

Willshack, please don't take yourselves too seriously, friend :-)