It's good stuff if you live in the right climate. Here in the Northeast you can tell the lawns that have Zoysia. In the spring they're still yellow when the other lawns have greened up. Makes me chuckle when I see those lawns. They also tend to elbow their way into other grasses.
I've recently gotten mailings about Zoysia Grass, and seen ads in magazines. Has anyone ever tried it? My lawn is kind of sorry looking, would Zoysia live up to its claims and fill my lawn with lush, full, green grass?
In the northeast, a mix of the newer fine blade tall fescues and bluegrass works very well. Mine stays green all winter here in NJ. A lot depends on proper care. I make sure to do two fall fertilizer applications. One in early Sept, the other in mid/late Oct. That not only gets it nice and green for the winter, but also gets it ready for a quick start in the spring.
If you have an existing lawn with all kinds of undesirable grass and lots of weeds, the best solution is to kill it all off in the fall and reseed.
I am in NC. I put about one half tray (9 plugs) of Emerald zoysia plugs in a small section (about 10' X 15') three years ago. They have taken over most of the area...maybe all of it, I don't know yet as it hasn't turned green yet this year. This is great grass as long as it gets at least 6 hours of direct sun a day AND it is cut to about 1"-1 1/2" via sharp blade. I tried the same in the front a year later and had to do it with Empress zoysia (as that's what the nursery went with..supposedly finer blade). I haven't had as much luck with this area yet as it doesn't get as much sun as the back yard does I am going to add a few more trays this May. Centipede plugs will also work if you are tired of spending $ on watering your lawn.
Wade
I've noticed that. Those must be the ones that look very nice in the summer but look like yellow hay all winter. But what kind of grass stays lush and green all winter in the Northeast?
My neighbor has it, as do some others around the area. Snow and cold doesn't seem to bother it. I've wondered what kind of grass it could be.
My neighbor does have a lawn service that uses chemicals, so it's a lovely, full monoculture even now before the season starts. My own lawn is green where there's something growing, but it's mostly weeds and miscellaneous clumpy grasses.
Sue(tm) Lead me not into temptation... I can find it myself!
If you live south of the Mason/Dixon line, even better, Atlanta or South, Zoysia is a great lawn. It does need plenty of sun, but not as much as bermuda grass. It is slow growing, so if you plug an area on 1' centers, you should expect two full growing seasons before it fills in completely, even in the best of conditions.
My old house had zoysia and I loved it. I'm planning on sodding the backyard at the new house with it in a month or so...
KB
Good points. Last year I added another item to my lawn maintenance -- a good raking with a thatching rake in mid-October and early spring prior to overseeding. In the fall it removes the dead and weakly rooted grass that probably won't survive the winter and in the spring it removes the embedded leaves, pine needles, etc that prevent the seed from rooting. It made a noticeable difference.
Steve Manes Brooklyn, NY
It does stay yellow longer, but it's very tough and low-maintenance. Unlike most grasses, it has a vine-like root system that spreads out just under the ground.
It's a very good option for someone who doesn't want to spend a lot time on his lawn and is willing to put up with it being yellow at the beginning and end of the season.
dv
I don't recommend Centipede. It tires out often after a few great years and if you do a search you will find out no one really knows why. I'm going to get rid of my centipede this year and replace with zoysia. I live in NC.
You stole MY grass? (grin) W W
On 4/10/2005 8:52 PM US(ET), Dan pressed feet to keyboard, and tapped out the following:
I had Zoyzia grass on a lawn in NY back in the 60's. Like others said about it being used in the colder climates, it turns yellow in the winter and doesn't get green until late Spring or early Summer. It also tends to creep into your neighbor's lawns, or other unwanted places, unless you edge it continuously or provide a physical barrier that extends below the root depth. Other than those two things, it was a great lawn. You could walk barefoot on it and it was soft and cushy. It was so thick that you can probe it with your fingers and not be able to feel the dirt beneath. There were no weeds since no other plants could survive in the zoyzia, including other grasses. If you want to start it in other areas, you use the plug tool to take a plug from the existing zoyzia and plant it in the other area. It survives drought better than regular grass (morning dew seemed to be enough of a watering), and the leaves grow slower than the roots, so you don't have to mow it as often.
My entire front lawn is Zoysia grass, and I love the stuff. It grows fairly slow, and can tolerate lots of heat and drought.
It will stay green with minimal water. My lawn still looks great when all the Bluegrass lawns are burning down in the middle of the summer.
It grows super-thick and chokes out most weeds. It has very wire-like roots - grubs hate it.
The season for it is pretty short. It greens up in late May and is done by Halloween. (no problem here, I'm sick of mowing by then anyhow!)
Grown from plugs or sprigs, it takes a long time to establish. I read somewhere that they have seed for it now, so that might be a good option.
The trick of zoysia is that it grows uniform.. so that even as it gets lengthy, it's even an appears fresh cut at that height. I have the whole yard in it... much to the demise of my neighbors' that wanted to plant small black pines along the boundary... choked'em out. Can still see the neighbors' wife, laying on her stomach under the trees, trying to cut back the zoysia. You know those tan grass welcome mats you can buy... this stuff is a second cousin to them. You have to cut a hole to plant anything... you can actually 'stick it' with a hoe and pull upwards causing it to 'tent' at that point... be sure you want it before installing.. you'll wear out grass shears cutting 'plugs'... every other foot, checker board style.
One disadvantage: It wants full sun, I planted sections of tmy Atlanta area yard with it about 18 years ago, and it just won't creep into shady areas.
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feed it with a good fertilizer sometime... it goes wild. you'll have to cut each week or more for many weeks. Did it once... learned my lesson.
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