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Anybody know anything about Zoysia?
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Posted: Feb/18/2008 12:40 PM PST
I've been seeing ads for this grass in mags, and of course they say it's the best thing since sliced bread. It looks good in the pictures, you put in plugs of grass in your lawn and it chokes out all other grass, weeds, etc. It says it stays green all summer without much water, and not much mowing. My main question is, is it like Bermuda grass, does it send out runners and get into everything you don't want it in or is it easier to contain? It seems it would, since it spreads by runners, and I don't need any more of that kind of grass, the Bermuda grass drives me crazy enough the way it is! I have to maintain a cemetery that is about 2 acres and there usually is not enough money to mow it all summer, and I was thinking this might be good to start there, but there are patches of Bermuda grass there and if it isn't mowed regularly, it almost chokes the mower out. Any information anyone can share with me would be appreciated. |
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Posted: Mar/07/2008 7:00 AM PST
Quote: Originally posted by rockybane I've been seeing ads for this grass in mags, and of course they say it's the best thing since sliced bread. It looks good in the pictures, you put in plugs of grass in your lawn and it chokes out all other grass, weeds, etc. It says it stays green all summer without much water, and not much mowing. My main question is, is it like Bermuda grass, does it send out runners and get into everything you don't want it in or is it easier to contain? It seems it would, since it spreads by runners, and I don't need any more of that kind of grass, the Bermuda grass drives me crazy enough the way it is! I have to maintain a cemetery that is about 2 acres and there usually is not enough money to mow it all summer, and I was thinking this might be good to start there, but there are patches of Bermuda grass there and if it isn't mowed regularly, it almost chokes the mower out. Any information anyone can share with me would be appreciated.Zoysia is a warm season grass which spreads overground by stolons, so yes, it will travel. It will also thrive in 85-100 degree temperatures and go dormant when the weather cools. |
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Posted: Mar/10/2008 4:52 PM PST
Bummer.I was hoping there was something to help get rid of my crabgrass. Thanks for the tip. Its funny, I was just thinking about posting something about this grass, cause I have seen it in all the garden mags too. I sure was hoping that was my answer. |
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Posted: Mar/13/2008 6:40 AM PST
Quote: Originally posted by dimona Bummer.I was hoping there was something to help get rid of my crabgrass. Thanks for the tip. Its funny, I was just thinking about posting something about this grass, cause I have seen it in all the garden mags too. I sure was hoping that was my answer.Dimona, being in SW Missouri, zoysia might even be a bigger headache for you than for the original poster, who is in the South. Kansas and Missouri fall into the dreaded "transition zone" that runs crossways through the center of the country. That basically means that neither warm-season nor cool-season grasses are perfectly suited for our area. So we have to go with the best compromise. Warm season turf like zoysia and bermudagrass are at their best when temps get to the mid 80s and above. They begin to go dormant early in the fall. True, they don't need a lot of mowing or irrigation, but they have their drawbacks. I don't know many people at all who have zoysia lawns here. Almost everyone uses a good blend of tall fescue, and some mix in a small percentage (5%) of perennial ryegrass. Bluegrass is highly touted here, especially the new heat tolerant bluegrass, but I would never recommend those. The heat-tolerant bluegrass is still very new and not proven. The extension agents are advising people to hold off on those. All types of turf-type bluegrass spread by rhizomes, too, and they need a lot more water than fescue. There are very decent fine-bladed fescues on the market now, and that's what we are planting in our new lawn areas, plus a little ryegrass. Ryegrass germinates and becomes established very quickly, so if you're looking to see something green coming up right away, use a little of that -- and I do mean a little. Ryegrass seed goes a long way, and if you use too much, it will crowd out the fescue and keep it from coming up. |
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Posted: Mar/14/2008 4:49 PM PST
I have had a zoysia lawn for over 30 years. I absolutely love it. It chokes out just about every weed known to man and grows slowly as compared to blue grass or fescue so I cut less. In dry conditions it will shut down and go brown, but as soon as it rains it's green again and thriving. It will spread into garden beds, etc. but I simply take my string trimmer turned sideways and run the line along the edge of the flower bed. This does a god job of edging, keeping it out of unwanted places. I've also just sprayed it with Roundup which kills it. Bluegrass and fescue also has problems with fungus, not zoysia. I love the stuff. Plant some zoysia plugs, water them for a couple of weeks until they get established and let them spread. If you want just start with a small area and see if you like the stuff. If you do, dig up some plugs from your established zoysia and plant it somewhere else. Compared to grass seed it's cheap. Plant the plugs 8-12" apart. The closer you plant them together the faster it will cover. It will go dormant in winter turning brown, but who cares, it's winter! |
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Posted: Apr/19/2008 8:11 PM PST
Thanks for the replies. I don't think I'll try zoysia right now, from what you've all said, I have some Bermuda grass and it gets in everything and is hard to get out and zoysia sounds too much like it. I'm not real zealous about keeping the grass out of the flower beds, I have good intentions, but never seem to have enough time to do it like it should be done. BTW, I am the original poster, and I live in SW Missouri too, all my 52 years of my life, not the south. Well, south MO, but that's it....... |
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Posted: Apr/20/2008 5:54 AM PST
We have patches of zoysia and are trying our best to spread it around. It's much easier to maintain than fescue. We do the same thing with our string trimmer--turn it sideways and make a cut along the edges of the beds. It seems to work. I just took a 2 foot square patch from where we took out our horseshoe pit and put in in the backyard where I had just removed an old, woody rosemary. I'm hoping that with the size of the plug that it'll take off and spread like crazy. Oh, and I agree with who cares if it goes brown in winter. It's lovely here almost year round because we don't have long winters. |
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Posted: Apr/27/2008 12:35 AM PST
I have Zoysia for 3 (THREE) years (Brooklyn/NY) - nothing even close to whatever was advertised. I still have mostly "bold" lawn. What they don't tell you on add is that Zoysia is very slow recovering after winter. All my neiborhood have already bright deep-green lawns (middle of April) but my Zoysia looks like dead yellow hey. About 3-4 weeks ago I seed grass mix (Scotts-shady) - now its 3 inches new nice lawn. My next step will be to dig out all Zoysia-Bold-spots-of-my-3-years-waiting-and-taken- care-and-money lawn and seed with Scotts shady mix. Ironically, birds didn't eat all my seeds - as it was warningly advertised to favor of Zoysia). My opinion - don't waste your time, money (who said that seeds more expensive = $15 a bag of Scotts cover two times more what I need) and hope. I honestly think that Zoysia is simply Advertisement’s BS. |
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