Zoysia grass

[ablang]

Has anyone heard of it? I saw it in this morning's circular

And more importantly, is anyone else willing to try it? I wonder if it's better than regular sod?

http://zoysiafarms.com/

[JacobM5727]

think they mentioned it on king of the hill.. the cartoon.. but i dont remember what it was he said.. probably something good

[Chuckiechan]

I think if was any good, it would be more common. It has been advertised for years, and I have yet to see one.

You might call a gardener or sod place and ask them about it.

[Theophylact]

It's horrible stuff. Coarse, and it browns over early. Yes, it does thrive in rough conditions, and it crowds out other stuff, including some weeds. But it looks lousy.

[samwichse]

It's what golf courses are planted in.

It is a non-native, exotic, invasive (which is why it can "crowd out" so many native weeds) species.

[necromancer]

http://www.ag.uiuc.edu/~robsond/solu...cs/zoysia.html

ZOYSIA GRASS

Zoysia is a warm season grass, thriving when temperatures are between 65ø and 95ø F. There are several advantages to zoysia grass:

1. Rapidly spreading 2. Green during the summer 3. Limited weed growth 4. Few, if any, insect problems 5. Slow growing, requiring fewer mowings. 6. Extremely wear resistant when green

On the other hand, there are several disadvantages:

1. Difficult to establish. Currently established by plugs, spaced six inches apart. Costly. 2. Zoysia seed has a low germination percentage, making it difficult to seed. 3. Will not grow in the shade. 4. Invasive. Will grow under sidewalks and driveways, and neighbor's fences. 5. Brown from mid October through mid May. 6. Tough on mowers. Mowers require frequent sharpening. 7. Sensitive to "traffic" when dormant. 8. Heavy thatch buildup, requires frequent dethatching or regulated burnings where permissible.

[Theophylact]

That pretty much says it all.

[Sweet]

Also, there are many varieties of zoysia. Some are extremely fine bladed, others thick. Just saw the fine stuff at a plant convention, it sure was pretty!!! Sorry, didn't pick up the literature, but I might be able to track the vendor down thru the monster catalog, if ya need it.....

[Epidemic]

Had a lawn of the stuff in new york.

the stuff was indestructable, you could drive a car across our front lawn in the middle of winter with out leaving tracks.

I loved the stuff, Of course you would probably need shoes to walk on the stuff it was dang pokey. Never dethached it in 30 years I can remember. My father did not bag either just left the clippings as fertilizer. It was almost completely maintenance free and weed free and basically I wish I could get the junk to grow by me. I collected some plugs while in new york but they failed to thrive in my clay after all those droughts this year.

Problems
Early brown and late to green

It actually would grow so thick and take over the paving stone walk way. Had to cut it back every few years to find the slate walkway.

It would take over anything except for shade. slowly eat your garden up so you would have to edge it ever so often.