I live just southwest of Richmond, VirGina (zone 7b). I have lived here 8 years and the summers seem to get more brutal or it could be my age. 😂 Last year I finally got fed up with trying to make cool season grasses - mainly tall fescue work. Trust me, reseeding different varieties each fall, fighting disease, etc only to to rinse & repeat isn’t ideal of fun. I truly love my yard work but to see it go down in flames from excessive heat and humidity was a lesson in futility
Last season (2024), I decided to try zoysia. Ever since my turf class in college in 1976 - yea I am old as dirt - zoysia always fascinated me. I didn’t want Bermuda because I didn’t want to be mowing low cut and I just didn’t like it that was being raised in our community in the common areas. I liked the growth habit, disease resistance, ability to take heat, humidity and to adapt to some shade.
I started with Empire plugs in the front (full sun with punishing heat) along the curb and along some bushes where fescue would not survive past August. Sod Solutions made that recommendation and suggested Citrazoy in the back where I had major disease issues year after yea. I tested Citrazoy in an area that received a mix of sun and shade plus had poa issues along my neighbor. WOW…this is the second year and I am absolutely please!
Lobo zoysia popped up on my radar last summer and I planted it in mid-August. It was close to my trial of Citrazoy. I figured the winner would be my go-to in 2025. Citrazoy won hands down. It greened up quicker, stayed greener later. In fact as of toda, Lobo is still trying to fill in completely whereas the Citrazoy planted late March is completely filled in. I have planted somewhere around 36 trays of plugs of Citrazoy from Sod Solutions this year. My wife and just finished for the year 9 trays the last 2 days.
The first picture is from today looking at my late March planting and my latest planting. The grass in the background is fescue.
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The second picture is a Lobo - interspersed with Citrazoy in the slower to fill areas with some new plantings in the background plus some summer planting under a shade and heavy rooted area. That shaded area has some real tough sledding roots and shade from our river birch tree.
![Image]()
Last season (2024), I decided to try zoysia. Ever since my turf class in college in 1976 - yea I am old as dirt - zoysia always fascinated me. I didn’t want Bermuda because I didn’t want to be mowing low cut and I just didn’t like it that was being raised in our community in the common areas. I liked the growth habit, disease resistance, ability to take heat, humidity and to adapt to some shade.
I started with Empire plugs in the front (full sun with punishing heat) along the curb and along some bushes where fescue would not survive past August. Sod Solutions made that recommendation and suggested Citrazoy in the back where I had major disease issues year after yea. I tested Citrazoy in an area that received a mix of sun and shade plus had poa issues along my neighbor. WOW…this is the second year and I am absolutely please!
Lobo zoysia popped up on my radar last summer and I planted it in mid-August. It was close to my trial of Citrazoy. I figured the winner would be my go-to in 2025. Citrazoy won hands down. It greened up quicker, stayed greener later. In fact as of toda, Lobo is still trying to fill in completely whereas the Citrazoy planted late March is completely filled in. I have planted somewhere around 36 trays of plugs of Citrazoy from Sod Solutions this year. My wife and just finished for the year 9 trays the last 2 days.
The first picture is from today looking at my late March planting and my latest planting. The grass in the background is fescue.
The second picture is a Lobo - interspersed with Citrazoy in the slower to fill areas with some new plantings in the background plus some summer planting under a shade and heavy rooted area. That shaded area has some real tough sledding roots and shade from our river birch tree.
