This was the third season for this emerald zoysia lawn that started as sod. Most of the year I’ve noticed this large dark spot at the top of the yard. I’ve always thought that spot didn’t get enough water so I would water it manually some days and it would somewhat perk back up but now I know the spot gets water (relocated some sprinkler heads) and it’s still like this. Lawn was getting 15 min of irrigation every other day at one point yet this spot persisted. I did notice grubs when I moved a sprinkler head so I will treat for those when I get home. Does this type of damage look like grubs or fungus to any of you? I cut at almost 2” with a reel mower and have red clay soil. Had a company spraying for weeds and fertilizing for two years but was never impressed with results. I’ll be doing it myself from now on Lawn was getting 15 min of irrigation every other day at one point yet this spot persisted.
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mreroe
Emerald Zoysia Damage
This was the third season for this emerald zoysia lawn that started as sod. Most of the year I’ve noticed this large dark spot at the top of the yard. I’ve always thought that spot didn’t get enough water so I would water it manually some days and it would somewhat perk back up but now I know the spot gets water (relocated some sprinkler heads) and it’s still like this. Lawn was getting 15 min of irrigation every other day at one point yet this spot persisted. I did notice grubs when I moved a sprinkler head so I will treat for those when I get home. Does this type of damage look like grubs or fungus to any of you? I cut at almost 2” with a reel mower and have red clay soil. Had a company spraying for weeds and fertilizing for two years but was never impressed with results. I’ll be doing it myself from now on Lawn was getting 15 min of irrigation every other day at one point yet this spot persisted.
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15 minutes every other day is nowhere near 1" per week. If I were you, I would conduct an irrigation test using the tuna can test, put it squarely in the middle of that dry patch and measure exactly how much water you are putting down with 15 minutes of irrigation. Once you have that measurement, you can adjust your irrigation schedule to 2 times per week and parget 1/2" each of those 2 sessions. I would also go around that area and do the screwdriver test to see if that area is compacted. if it is, mix 2-3 tablespoons of dishwashing liquid (non anti-bacterial kind) with 1-2 gallons of water and spray that area and then irrigate heavily to get the water down into the root zone.
I run my 2 largest zones with 6 heads for 1:20 each to get 1/2” of water on average. Your coverage will be different than Mine because of total FT2, sprinkler head layout and type. The only way to know how long to run them is to place empty tuna cans throughout your yard, run sprinklers for 1/2 hour, then measure each can to see how much water in inches your system has delivered. Then adjust your time to get 1/2” twice a week if no rain is received.
Also since that area is on a slope, some of the water may be running down the hill. Some irrigations systems allow a "Cycle-and-Soak" time to allow the water to soak into the ground and not just run extra down the hill. https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2022-03/ws-outdoor-cycle-and-soak-brochure.pdf
My rotor heads take 1hr 15 min to put down 1/2" and I do the cycle and soak on my Rachio so it takes around 7 hours to water my lawn 2x a week. Its either a dry area or bugs. Grubs love my emerald zoysia and Ive had die off like that before. Bermuda in the front hasnt been a issue with it for some reason though. Em Zoysia can have fungus issues as well, but I dont think thats the problem here.
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