zoysia grass

[porthos]

thinking about planting Zoysia grass (seed). i live in SW Pa. anyone have any experience with it and any issues??

[Froogal]

Limited experience here in Iowa. It is very tough to get through with a lawnmower.

[kcofohio]

I had some seeds mixed in ACE premium grass seeds. It will choke out regular grass and most weeds. Slowly spread over lawn through the years. Hard to completely kill off. Very dense growth, but grows slowly and evenly. When the temps reach 50 degrees and below, it goes dormant and turns brown. Not a green blade to be seen. As Froogal said, it's harder to push mow. Like thick plush carpet.

[Silvercreek Farmer]

I didn’t think it established well from seed. Most people use sod or plugs that gradually fill in. We bought about a 1/4 pallet of sod 15 years ago, cut it into chunks, planted them around the lawn in the spring, and kept them watered over the summer. 15 years later it still hasn’t completely filled in. It doesn’t tolerate much shade at all and despite it’s thickness, does not like a ton (as in kids and cars) of traffic. It creeps so slowly, my wife really doesn’t complain about it creeping into her flower beds. Ours is the Myers variety, it has a wide blade and is difficult to distinguish from turf type fescue except for the winter brown, summer very green thing. Emerald is much finer, denser, and a bit prickly in my opinion. Looks great but not as friendly to roll around in with the kids.

[pworley1]

I don't know about your location, but it is great here in the south.

[Three44s]

I am a member of our County Noxious Weed Board. We are periodically plagued with new invasive ornamental plants that escape to farms.

I know nothing about the grass you are enquiring about but I would recommend before you acquire it, check with your local noxious weed board (if you have one) to make sure is is not on a mandatory control list or being eyed by your State Weed Board for inclusion.

Better safe than sorry

Three44s

[kcofohio]

I didn’t think it established well from seed. Most people use sod or plugs that gradually fill in. We bought about a 1/4 pallet of sod 15 years ago, cut it into chunks, planted them around the lawn in the spring, and kept them watered over the summer. 15 years later it still hasn’t completely filled in. It doesn’t tolerate much shade at all and despite it’s thickness, does not like a ton (as in kids and cars) of traffic. It creeps so slowly, my wife really doesn’t complain about it creeping into her flower beds. Ours is the Myers variety, it has a wide blade and is difficult to distinguish from turf type fescue except for the winter brown, summer very green thing. Emerald is much finer, denser, and a bit prickly in my opinion. Looks great but not as friendly to roll around in with the kids.

I'm not sure of the variety we had. In the late 90s we bought an all electric house. In '98 we had a gas furnace installed, which meant tapping into the gas line. Within 7 years I started noticing the lawn had brown grass in the winter. In the 12th year, I tried killing it off with roundup. It didn't get it all and came back. I tried again the year before we moved. Not sure of the last results.

porthos, for a low maintenance grass, you might want to look into creeping red fescue. Once established, it's suppose to be good for our more northern climate.
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/lawn-care/specific/red-fescue-grass/red-fescue-planting.htm

[Sasquatch-1]

When I was a kid in Jr. High back in the mid 60's I cut grass for a person who had it. It only needed to be cut about half as often as other lawns. About the only weed I can remember getting through it was onion grass.

I tried to establish it at the house I am in now when I moved in, but I used dry weed and feed on it and I think I killed it off. It was a tremendous waste of money. I live in the Eastern panhandle of WV.

[wddodge]

My neighbor has in their yard. It looks good in the summer but turns brown from fall till spring. It looks like a layer of cardboard boxes covering her yard.

Denny

[MT Gianni]

I have lived in Montana and Idaho for most of my adult life. Most of it is over 4000 ft elevation. Are you saying all grass doesn't turn brown in the winter? We generally green up from May to October.

[Froogal]

I have lived in Montana and Idaho for most of my adult life. Most of it is over 4000 ft elevation. Are you saying all grass doesn't turn brown in the winter? We generally green up from May to October.

Here in southwest Iowa, zoysia grass will still be brown long after everything else has turned green.

[wddodge]

I have lived in Montana and Idaho for most of my adult life. Most of it is over 4000 ft elevation. Are you saying all grass doesn't turn brown in the winter? We generally green up from May to October.

My yard is a mix on Ky Bluegrass, dandelion, white clover, ryegrass and anything else that keeps growing after being mowed over once a week. It does fade down after it freezes but it still mostly a shade of green all winter.

Denny

[Noah Zark]

I had some seeds mixed in ACE premium grass seeds. It will choke out regular grass and most weeds. Slowly spread over lawn through the years. Hard to completely kill off. Very dense growth, but grows slowly and evenly. When the temps reach 50 degrees and below, it goes dormant and turns brown. Not a green blade to be seen. As Froogal said, it's harder to push mow. Like thick plush carpet.

This. Bought a house in '79 that had a huge section planted in zoysia. We hated that it turned brown so fast. When green it would stall the mower unless the blade was Ginsu-sharp. Never again.

Better to nuke it from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.

[metricmonkeywrench]

We have some out back, in the growing season it looks like a putting green. Doesn’t grow fast but it is thick and dusty to cut with the rider. Pretty much my experience is about the same as everyone else. Though it is tough to try and dethatch.

I have a Darwin yard out in our rural area with no one to impress, so if it’s green it gets mowed and if it survives is allowed to stay.

[porthos]

thanks for all the advice. i want zoysia grass ; because, my lawn is a mix of everything bad. i refuse to put chemicals (poison) on it. i have a couple of sections of zoysia; 100 sq ft or so. and nothing (weeds) grows inside it. my neighbors lawn is entirely zoysia; so, i guess that where it came from.

[HodakaGA]

Zenith zoysia can be seeded and looks similar to centipede. Easy to cut and suppresses weeds well. Frost will brown it for the winter but Bermuda and centipede brown up with lighter frosts. greens up early too. Spreads pretty quick and tolerates more shade than centipede or Bermuda too.

Wouldn't have anything else in Georgia.

[Sasquatch-1]

i have a couple of sections of zoysia; 100 sq ft or so.

You can cut plugs out of the area where the grass is already established and put them in other areas of the yard. Fill the holes with topsoil and they will fill back in. It may take a while to spread but you won't waste money buying seed that may not germinate.

[porthos]

thanks sasquatch. how far apart can i plant the plugs??

[crandall crank]

We've cut plugs on a friends house. We cut them into about 2" squares and plant them in a checkerboard fashion. Just imagine the checkerboard is 12" squares. Plant at the corners/intersections.

[kcofohio]

We've cut plugs on a friends house. We cut them into about 2" squares and plant them in a checkerboard fashion. Just imagine the checkerboard is 12" squares. Plant at the corners/intersections.

As a kid I remember some magazine was selling plugs in a hundred plugs per pack. Advertised as planting them 1 ft. apart.

[Sasquatch-1]

thanks sasquatch. how far apart can i plant the plugs??

It would all depend on how fast you want them to fill in. The closer together the faster the fill. If you are in no big hurry, you can plant them further apart. Let the original patch fill in for a season and then cut more plugs. It will take a while.

[WRideout]

My yard is a mix on Ky Bluegrass, dandelion, white clover, ryegrass and anything else that keeps growing after being mowed over once a week. It does fade down after it freezes but it still mostly a shade of green all winter.

Denny

My wife once asked me why our lawn periodically has brown spots that return to green later. I told her that what we call a lawn is technically a meadow, with different flowering plants that grow and die at different rates.

Wayne

[MarkP]

Zoysia is a warm season grass.... like most of the native grasses that were here in the US before settlers planted cool season grasses from Europe. May want to look into Buffalo grass such as the newer hybrid Sundancer. Very deep root stucture. PA annual perception is probably much higher than the Central Plains.

[sailcaptain]

You will not kill it or get rid of it. I bought my home 40 years ago and a neighbor had planted it in his 5 years prior to this. Over the years I slowly watched the Zoysia creeping in and taking over.
I now have a completely Zoysia grass lawn. And now I am watching it spread onto my other neighbors lawn.
When you dig it up a piece you can not pull it apart.
It will turn brown when the temperature turns to 65 degrees and it will green up again when it turns to 70 degrees, just like clock work.
You will never have to fertilize it, water it or apply weed killer. It just is. Any weed that may appear can quickly be removed with a shot of weed spray.
You will have to find plants that can survive in it also. Peonies can live with it, home gardens once tilled will be a drawing card for it to spread to. Raised bed gardens will work if you put down a solid weed barrier mesh with no open seams.
I guess I’m saying its very invasive. Very easy to rake leaves up though. They just sit on the grass.
Like cutting wood….measure twice, cut once.
For Zoysia….think twice, plant once.

[daengmei]

I'd like to know what variety to use, my yard stays bare in spots from dog movements. Every year seed and repair, every year it thins to muddy paths. What grass to use in central Ky, some shade and often very wet in the spring, but most summer months it's very dry. The birds get some of it as seed of course.

[Rapier]

Common in FL, needs a tally level yard, leveled with a roller applied. Cut with a reel mower only. look close at the yards. Watered with sprayers.
Grows very slooooo. Mows twice a year, growth fill in is a joke.... Is not a walk on barefoot kind of yard, like walking on pine needles. Makes a look but do mot touch yard.
I am not a fan. Find a full yard, look close, stop, ring the door bell, ask the owners what they think.

[higgins]

Our first house came with a zoysia yard. I was push mowing at the time, but was in my late 20s so it was no big deal. I liked it because it grew slowly - didn't need to mow it near as often as most fescue lawn grasses. As others have said it was plush, the kids loved playing on it. Had a neighbor from South Carolina; he said some people there would burn it off in the spring before it greened up to prevent mulch buildup.

[gunther]

Put some on banks I didn't want to mow any more than necessary. It is a bit slick when the dew is on it.

[Finster101]

I'd like to know what variety to use, my yard stays bare in spots from dog movements. Every year seed and repair, every year it thins to muddy paths. What grass to use in central Ky, some shade and often very wet in the spring, but most summer months it's very dry. The birds get some of it as seed of course.

I grew up in Kentucky and my dad always seeded with a 50/50 mix of bluegrass and red fescue. Lawn almost always looked nice and was very hardy.