Subject: Zoysia grass any good?

From: [email-masked] (James Louie)
Date: 27 Mar 1995 15:31:40 GMT

I've been tempted to get some Zoysia grass plugs that were advertised in 
a handyman magazine.  The ad makes them sound pretty good. Any 
opinions/experience with them?  I live in northern NJ, would this grass 
be appropriate for my zone?  Thanks in advance

James Louie

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From: [email-masked] (Gary L. Smith)
Date: Mon, 27 Mar 1995 20:06:43 +1000

In article <[email-masked]> [email-masked] (James Louie) writes:
>From: [email-masked] (James Louie)
>Subject: Zoysia grass any good?
>Date: 27 Mar 1995 15:31:40 GMT

>James Louie

I don't know how hard it would be to get the plugs established
since the Zoysia grass was here when we bought the house about 9 years ago, 
but I live in Columbus, Ohio and the Zoysia grass in my backyard is 
beautiful from late May to about late September. Also, it looks alot better 
than the normal grass in my zone in those hot dry months of July and August.

No crabgrass problem either. Easy maintenance. 

Gary L. Smith                 [email-masked]
Columbus, Ohio                [email-masked]

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From: [email-masked] (Bob Kirk)
Date: 28 Mar 1995 23:20:01 -0600

Several people writing something along the line of:

>a magazine.  The ad makes them sound pretty good.......

   ANY GOOD THING SAID ABOUT ZOYSIA IN ANY OF THESE THREADS IS TRUE.
   ~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~ ~~~~~
Very much a religious sort of question, so I won't bother defending that.

   But don't mess with mail order. (mostly Meyer Z-52 - nothing
wrong with that but just one of many selections of Z. japonica and 
practically any of them more recent though not necessarily better).

   After the weather warms up (about June 1 in Ks.) your local garden
centers / nurseries / sod farms will have zoysia sod in handy 2? sq ft
rolls and you can cut real plugs instead of the sprigs or tufts you'll
get mail order. Real sod is *heavy* - something to consider also before
rolling a few square yards back into the depths of the trunk.

   With any luck it'll be some variety that grows best for them (it is a
crop, after all) and should do well for you, though I suspect that's not
as important with zoysia as it is with more precious grasses.

   Probably easiest to cut it into 1.5-2" squares with a butcher knife 
and mud them into bulb planter holes - or plant strips and let them grow
together - whatever. The more you plant the sooner you'll have a lawn.

   I seem to remember it took two years to grow solid when planting with
2-3 plugs worth of space between - some posts here to the contrary zoysia
is *not* terribly invasive - but whoever sells it can advise for your
conditions.

   BTW, cut the plugs somewhere you want it to grow, because tiny bits &
pieces really *will* grow - the reason they can get away with selling it
mail order, but for a few dollars more you'll get far better and faster
results this way.

   A couple of caveats. Milder parts of the country have more species to
choose from, mostly finer-textured etc. - and to some extent not as in-
destructible as Z. japonica.  In some areas zoysia has insect & various
other problems. Getting up into USDA Z4 it probably does stay dormant
too long to be satisfactory, though IMHO well-kept zoysia looks better
gold than most grass does green.

   And keeping it well does involve doing a few things differently, but
given that, in much of the US it really is as trouble-free as they say.

   Listen to what the local people tell you, but remember this *is* a
religious matter. If there are genuine problems maybe you should try
growing something else, but don't be put off just because somebody
happens not to like zoysia.

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From: [email-masked] (Laurie L. Robertson)
Date: 31 Mar 1995 19:50:18 -0500

When we moved into our house, it was apparent that the previous occupants
had tried to follow the neighboorhood Zoysia convention (Washington, DC
area).  However, they had forgotten that Zoysia not only likes warm soil
but also light.  Since our lot, is partial shade the Zoysia was hanging on
but in no way thriving.  I overseeded the various turf type mixtures and
now we have a nice naturally selected lawn.  The Zoysia, despite it's 
invasive tendencies is segregated in one portion of the backyard that
receives more than 6 hours of daylight (in fact, in the winter neighbors
now ask me what's wrong with that part of the lawn). 

So my advice is to carefully consider your light conditions.  If you have
a shady or partly shady light then don't do Zoysia.  Turf has done well for
me your mileage may vary.

Laurie
    [email-masked]