[Moondoggy]

My initial inquiry on this forum had to do with growing grass in the shady areas in my yard but since then I've learned that my previous lawn care service, that I've since fired, somehow damaged some rather significant areas in my yard and the grass that was in those areas is now totally dead. To fix this problem I'm faced with a dilemma on what to do to try and fix these dead areas.

I've heard that Zoysia is a better grass to use than centipede and my next door neighbor just replaced his whole front lawn with Empire Zoysia. From what I 've been told Zoysia has runners both above and below ground making it a more robust grass that will spread faster than centipede. This was the rationale that my neighbor used to justify the $4000 it cost him to have his yard re-sodded. Unfortunately, I cannot afford to spend $4000 to re-sod my yard but the bare spots, especially in the front yard, are very noticeable.

One choice that's been recommended to me is to plug these dead areas in my front yard with Empire Zoysia or another variety of Zoysia grass but if I do this, it would have to be unnoticeable to passersby as our subdivision has some pretty strict rules and one of those rules state that one cannot mix varieties of grassed in one's yard. Now I'm not afraid of violating the rules a bit here and there if the variety of Zoysia would have the same color, softness and blade texture as the centipede grass and would blend well together. The goal, of course, would be to blend the two grasses together and eventually have the Zoysia take over the yard by forcing out the centipede in the years to come. However, If there would be noticeable differences between the Zoysia variety and the Centipede then I might want to take a different course of action to avoid a subdivision rules violation.

That other course of action would be to first harvest Centipede plugs from my back yard behind my privacy fence and then start laying down Zoysia sod in the harvested areas where it would be out of the sight of subdivision management. The latter doesn't really get me into a Zoysia lawn in the front but it at least avoids the mixed grass issue.

So my question is what you all would recommend doing as I know nothing about varieties of Zoysia grass and their growing characteristics compared to Centipede which I've found to be particularly troublesome in dealing with.

Again, any advice you can offer will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

 

[Colonel K0rn]

@Spammage is the resident Zoysia expert on the forums, and I'm sure he'd be more than happy to provide you with some excellent advice to help you out with your situation.

If you do decide to go with the route of plugging, I'd recommend the ProPlugger 5 in 1. I've used it in my yard with great success.

 

[Mightyquinn]

I would wait for Spammage to answer but I don't believe the Centipede and Zoysia will mix well together and each one will require different care regiments. Centipede is usually a very light green color while Zoysia is more dark green and Centipede is also a more coarser grass too.

 

[TC2]

Not convinced the centipede would be a much different color. If it's very light green, it's probably low on iron. The neighbors is bordering on yellow it's that underfed, but the rest of the yards are not that different from Bermuda, the most obvious difference being texture. You could perhaps get a sample to try.

 

[gatormac2112]

I believe there are things you would spray on the Zoysia that would kill the centipede. Maybe that eventually would be a good thing.

Zoysia doesn't grow as slow as people think, but I don't think it spreads very fast

 

[Spammage]

Unfortunately there are a lot of variables that will make answering your question difficult. My initial thoughts are that if your pH is around 6.0 then Empire and centipede are likely going to be similar in color, but I'm not sure because I live on a limestone bed and centipede here is basically yellow. The texture should be close enough to not be an eyesore. However, if you do an individual area in zoysia, it would likely be more noticeable than if you plugged into a full existing centipede stand.

My suggestion would be to wait and see what your neighbors yard looks like to make the comparison. As others have stated, zoysia is very slow to spread, so plugging it into the centipede would take years before the zoysia takes over. Personally, I would stick with the centipede in the front unless it is really unsightly and replace it all if you believe that zoysia would be a better fit for you.

@Greendoc likely has more experience with centipede, so may be able to offer additional advice.

 

[Greendoc]

Please do not bring in Zoysia. When it is mixed with Centpede, the Zoysia looks like a fast growing weed with darker green leaves. You will also despise mowing it. It will look shredded and full of thatch unless mowed with a greensmower or else a front throw reel mower.

Big companies are notorious for killing Centipede. For one thing, the grass is sensitive to overdosage with broadleaf weed killer. It is also not tolerant of overdosage with Metsulfuron Methyl(MSM). A common application of lawn companies is to apply broadleaf weed killer with MSM. Unless that is done through a boom or pressure regulated wand applying a set quantity of product per acre, it will probably kill the Centipede in spots and patches.

What I would do in your case is to get a soil test done. Correct the soil so that it is according to these reequirements. Low Phosphorus and a pH under 6. You may need to apply Sulfur to lower pH. That is normally a good practice for Centipede lawns unless they are growing on already ideal soil. Then you seed with Centipede grass.
I personally love dealing with Centipede. Would rather have it over Zoysia any day. It does not grow like mad as Zoysia does. It does not need a lot of fertilizer. It is also rather easy to mow compared to Zoysia. I have dealt with a lawn that had mixed Centipede and Zoysia. I killed the Zoysia and kept the Centipede.

 

[Guest]

El toro and centipede look similar from a distance but up close you can tell them apart. I'm removing what el toro I have and re planting tif centipede.
For what's its worth my el toro did start to green up a few weeks prior to centipede.

 

[Greendoc]

Has it warmed up already in NC? My El Toro lawns have spent the past 7 years throwing tantrums about it not warming up much past 80 and being cloudy most of the 12 months. I will say that grass was deceptively trouble free in the decades when it was 90 or higher 12 months out of the year.

 

[Guest]

Has it warmed up already in NC? My El Toro lawns have spent the past 7 years throwing tantrums about it not warming up much past 80 and being cloudy most of the 12 months. I will say that grass was deceptively trouble free in the decades when it was 90 or higher 12 months out of the year.

We got a warm week back in Feb and it brought out a little bit of green on my zoysia. The weather has honestly been the craziest here in a long time. Snowed 2x in March since that brief warm up. However now everything is starting to finish coming out of dormancy.
I'm still finishing killing off my El toro, will see how the centipede looks afterwards and see what I need to patch. 🤨

 

[Greendoc]

Tenacity + RoundUp? When it is likely to stay warm, that is when the seeds go down.

 

[Moondoggy]

Thanks for the replies. To add some clarity to my question I've attached a photo showing the break between my centipede grass and my neighbors Empire zoysia grass. In the middle of the picture are two pieces of scrap pine cone showing where the actual break is. On the top half is centipede and below is the Empire zoysia. From my perspective, the color of the zoysia and the width of the blades of grass are virtually the same however you can tell that the density of the Empire Zoysia appears thicker than the centipede. My concern with mixing the grasses may boil down to the timing of when the grasses enter and exit from their dormant state.

 

[Moondoggy]

Just so you all know what I'm dealing with here are 3 pictures that show the damage that has occurred to my centipede grass lawn. My problem is that it cost my neighbor $4000 to have a landscaping company come out and replace his entire front lawn with Empire Zoysia. and right now I certainly can't afford that kind of cash outlay. My concern is that I need to do something that will help the appearance of my lawn so that I don't get written up for its poor appearance by the subdivision manager. Any suggestions on what to do will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Greendoc]

Seed the areas that are burned out. Zoysia will stick out and look even more different as the weather warms up. I dealt with a lawn that had Zoysia contamination. The Zoysia areas were a different color and grew way more than the Centipede. Only way to keep it uniform was with more mowing than is practical.