Zoysia Grass
 

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?

"Dan" wrote in message
...
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?
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 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


"Dan" wrote in message
...
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?

On Sun, 10 Apr 2005 21:22:12 -0400, "Clark Griswold" wrote:

"Dan" wrote in message
.. .
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?

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.

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!

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.

"Dan" wrote in message
...
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?

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

Last time we met, Clark Griswold had said:
"Dan" wrote in message
...
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?
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.

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

--
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
The geographical center of Boston is in Roxbury. Due north of the
center we find the South End. This is not to be confused with South
Boston which lies directly east from the South End. North of the South
End is East Boston and southwest of East Boston is the North End.

On 11 Apr 2005 01:53:26 -0700, wrote:

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.

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
http://www.magpie.com/house

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.


"Wade" wrote in message
ink.net...
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


"Dan" wrote in message
...
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?

"Curly Sue" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 10 Apr 2005 21:22:12 -0400, "Clark Griswold" wrote:





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.

You stole MY grass? (grin) W W


Sue(tm)
Lead me not into temptation... I can find it myself!

On 4/10/2005 8:52 PM US(ET), Dan pressed feet to keyboard, and tapped
out the following:

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?



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.


--
Bill

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.


--
Joe Michel
NAR 82797 L2
http://home.alltel.net/jm44316







"willshak" wrote in message
...
On 4/10/2005 8:52 PM US(ET), Dan pressed feet to keyboard, and tapped out
the following:

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?


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.


--
Bill

On Mon, 12 Sep 2005 05:43:22 -0400, willshak
wrote:

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.

On 4/10/2005 8:52 PM US(ET), Dan pressed feet to keyboard, and tapped
out the following:

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?



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.

On Tue, 13 Sep 2005 20:24:27 -0400, Doug Warner
wrote:

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.
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.