[Boomhauer]

Resodding in spring and was convinced I wanted tiff tuff, then switched to celebration and now contemplating zoysia.

In a perfect world I wanted Tahoma 31 but sadly it is not available near me in Fort Worth, Texas. I liked tiff tuff for it’s little water requirements but now leaning towards celebration or zoysia. I like celebration in the sense that it it can be mowed taller allowing me to delay the inevitable reel mower purchase until I convert my front yard over too. I like the emerald green color a lot also.

I’m now considering zoysia but the slow growth and recovery is turning me away. I have a toddler and a dog (not destructive by any means) but wanted the grass to recover quickly from the toddler playing outside. The zoysia seems good for less insecticide/fungicide given it disease susceptibility so that’s something I need to consider also.

i live in Fort Worth, TX where we experience drought and extreme heat in the summer. I have clay soil (not compacted by any means. I feel Iike the Burmuda will fair best given that information?

What is everyone else’s thoughts here, help me narrow this down!

 

[Mightyquinn]

I would make a list of your priorities of what you want or will want out of a lawn and then compare that list to the strengths of each lawn. Personally I don’t think you can go wrong either way. I’ve never taken care of a Zoysia lawn but from what I have seen it’s a little more temperamental than bermuda but that is just from casual observation.

 

[Redtwin]

There are times that I wish I would have Empire Zoysia over my whole yard but other times that I am glad I have Bermuda in the back. If not for the wear and tear I would do Zoysia everywhere but the Bermuda clearly does way better in the high traffic areas. The Empire seems to do better in the cooler weather and does great at the different HOCs but it is very slow to recover from damage.

 

[jdrop01]

Well, I currently have Zoysia Jamur. Was my first season with it since house was built in March 2022. Overall, I do not mind it. Takes way less fertilizer than the Bermuda I owned previously, about 2lbs of nitrogen is all it really needs for a season. First time I had to do preventative fungicide near fall since Zoysia is prone to Zoysia Patch (large patch) from my research. I reel mow with my Toro GM1000 at .6 inch and it does fine. It does not take a lot of water to thrive but then again this last summer in Ft Worth was miserable, but my lawn survived and I did not even try to keep up with mother nature during those heat waves. Yes, I had areas that struggled and showed heat stress but what lawn didn't in Texas during those times. It did seem to stay green for a long time during the winter, it finally went dormant after our week in the teens for temp. I have 1 medium size dog 49lbs and 1 large dog 90lbs along with 2 kids, my yard is fine. Dogs and kids run around, and I don't recall having damage, and they still play in the yard during the winter, and all seems fine.

Before, I had Bermuda and the main differences to me are; more fertilizer, increased mowing frequencies and not shade tolerant. I had to cut more frequently with Bermuda to not cut into the brown stalk area since I was reel mowing, with Jamur the whole blade is green, so allowing it to grow out some doesn't do any harm and I actually prefer that, as sometimes time gets away from me. My Jamur seems to do a decent job with shade. Overall, I am happy with my Zoysia Jamur.

Either grass could not stand up to my dogs pee, haha.

Here is my journal I had going for a bit when I moved into the new house.

jdrop01 Jamur Zoysia Lawn Journal

Decided to take some progress photos along the way of my newly built home that was laid with Jamur Zoysia. I am coming from hybrid Bermuda and have to relearn application rates since Zoysia tends to like low nitrogen from my research. We moved into our new house on March 28th. I applied...

www.thelawnforum.com

 

[Reelrollers]

At our turf park we have 3 warm season plots that have now been in place 3 years.
El Toro Zoysia (Empire looking)
Zeon Zoysia (Emerald looking)
Tif Tuff Bermuda

I have Empire also at the house. I love that the Bermuda can’t be hurt and when it is, it recovers quickly. The Bermuda stripes well, but I tend to get more scalp marks with it even though we keep it low…. That’s disappointing after a good cut. We maintain it at 1/2”.

the Zeon lays down the best stripes because it’s a thin blade. But, it growsso thick that it is very tough on reels and for it to look it’s best with a reel mower, you really need to mow often so it doesn’t get too thick. We maintain it at 9/16. It’s also so soft that it leaves foot impressions, kind of a spongy grass to the step.

The El Toro/ Empire is still my favorite. It grows slow, is very hardy, and it’s so easy to cut with the fat blades. The only downside is that it doesn’t grow fast (recover bare spots) as quickly as the Zeon or Bermuda. it is shade tolerant and doesn’t require much water. It’s just an easy turf to have in place

here are pics of all 3 el toro, Zeon, Bermuda and the last one is the empire at the house.

 

[UFG8RMIKE]

Our new home is almost finished. I initially decided on Celebration however after growing empire zoysia at our weekend home, we decided to go with empire. Bermuda just isn‘t worth the insane amount of effort. Hats off to anyone who wants to dedicate their life to their lawn tho.

 

[Redtwin]

I have Tifway 419 in the back and Empire in the front. If I had to do it again I would do it all in Empire. Empire requires a quarter of the water, half the fertilizer, and lower PGR than Bermuda. You can also get away with missing a day or two of mowing since it won't scalp like Bermuda. The Tifway is nice though as it repairs quickly from traffic and damage.

 

[SouthernTiftuf]

I love my celebration with 4 dogs but I think everything but recovery time is better for zoysia from what others have said. Bermuda is great though and would recommend the Bermuda bible if you go with it

 

[Movingshrub]

How often do you want to mow? How much traffic is on the turf? How much sunlight do you have? What’s your budget? One of these will the driving factor.

 

[Boomhauer]

@Movingshrub

@Redtwin

@Reelrollers so sorry for the late response, I think your post is convincing me to go the zoysia route although the biggest draw back is recovery time, shade tolerance, and HOC.

I really enjoy mowing too so the slow growth and foot traffic really makes want the celebration. I also think the ability to sprig my front yard when sod is established is very appealing since I’m a penny pincher lol.

I don’t have a reel mower and since my front yard is SA (will transition within the next couple of years) I can’t justify buying one yet. I read some people use their rotary mower just fine at 0.75” but the scalping is a huge turn off since my backyard is small and would most def stand out.

Another sticking point is that my backyard is north west facing if you’re looking out my back door. Even though I removed two small trees I’m concerned the the amount of shade I receive at different parts of the day won’t allow it to flourish esp when in fall/winter months. I wish I could remember what the light intensity was during growing season.

It seemed like the sod solutions Study on celebration ranked the highest cultivar of Burmuda for shade tolerance and similar to Meyer zoysia.

I have a dog who is very calm and doesn’t seem to tear up anything besides dog urine. The toddler is 3 and I’m not sure how much traffic she’ll cause since she hasn’t had the chance to utilize the space yet.

After typing All of this out I believe I’m still undecided, for what’s it’s worth I seem to read more stories on folks changing to Burmuda than to zoysia?

 

[Boomhauer]

Our new home is almost finished. I initially decided on Celebration however after growing empire zoysia at our weekend home, we decided to go with empire. Bermuda just isn‘t worth the insane amount of effort. Hats off to anyone who wants to dedicate their life to their lawn tho.

that’s interesting, I read how low maintenance zoysia is but after tending to my SA in the front I’m convinced that is the most needy grass out there. I really enjoy mowing and since the back is only 2k sq ft I’m convinced it won’t be that bad. That might change though after one year of mowing, specially the scalping since I don’t own a reel mower. I’m having someone with a mini skid steer come in to regrade so I’m hoping 0.75” with my rotary might be okay.

I think my biggest sticking point if shade tolerance, my yard is north west facing so I’m very concerned the shade during the morning to noon might be too detrimental?

 

[Boomhauer]

@Redtwin

How often do you want to mow? How much traffic is on the turf? How much sunlight do you have? What’s your budget? One of these will the driving factor.

I typically mow my front yard that consists of SA about every 4 days when it’s growing well. I think I could muster every third day since it’s only 2k sq ft but that may change my mind after mid summer.

Currently the backyard is tore up after ripped up concrete and awning posts last spring. I attempted to rent a sod cutter to remove the old
Turf (mostly weeds with SA/common) with the hopes that I could level out the high spots. Long story short the sod cutter from HD broke within 30min and kind of wasted my day. I ended up finding more concrete back there so I was able to
Accomplish something at least.

I decided to have someone come in and regrade this month with a mini skid steer and spread potentially up to 2” of loam after it’s leveled. I was going to do this by hand but there’s SO many high and low spots I figured this was worth it in the end.

Budget isn’t too much of an issue since my wife is on board with the thought the regrade should help with the foundation. But to answer your question for 2k sq ft I’m hoping this doesn’t run me over $3k.

I did find a reputable sod co near by that seems to be a tad overpriced at $275/pallet for celebration (Didn’t check on zoysia yet). I’m okay with spending more knowing I’m getting quality turf with excellent customer service in case something goes wrong.

I inquired about the regrade last year and I think it’s gonna cost me less than a grand. He’s coming by tomorrow to survey the yard and give me a final quote.


After the renovation is complete I figure my 3 y.o will be outside more utilizing the space. I currently have a chill ausie/Pyrenees mix who I’m not too concerned will tear up the lawn besides his urine stains.

Sorry for the lengthy response, I did leave out pertinent information that I forgot to tag you in. I’ll edit a response from below so you can see it also in regard to my concerns of HOC and shade tolerance.

I want to point out that I live in Fort Worth where we experience hot summers and drought (specifically last year and upcoming year from what I read). Water requirements and heat tolerance is super important to me which is why I’m leaning towards celebration.

 

[Boomhauer]

There are times that I wish I would have Empire Zoysia over my whole yard but other times that I am glad I have Bermuda in the back. If not for the wear and tear I would do Zoysia everywhere but the Bermuda clearly does way better in the high traffic areas. The Empire seems to do better in the cooler weather and does great at the different HOCs but it is very slow to recover from damage.

sorry for the late reply, still currently undecided- I went ahead and tagged you in a previous response to see my other concerns!

 

[Boomhauer]

Well, I currently have Zoysia Jamur. Was my first season with it since house was built in March 2022. Overall, I do not mind it. Takes way less fertilizer than the Bermuda I owned previously, about 2lbs of nitrogen is all it really needs for a season. First time I had to do preventative fungicide near fall since Zoysia is prone to Zoysia Patch (large patch) from my research. I reel mow with my Toro GM1000 at .6 inch and it does fine. It does not take a lot of water to thrive but then again this last summer in Ft Worth was miserable, but my lawn survived and I did not even try to keep up with mother nature during those heat waves. Yes, I had areas that struggled and showed heat stress but what lawn didn't in Texas during those times. It did seem to stay green for a long time during the winter, it finally went dormant after our week in the teens for temp. I have 1 medium size dog 49lbs and 1 large dog 90lbs along with 2 kids, my yard is fine. Dogs and kids run around, and I don't recall having damage, and they still play in the yard during the winter, and all seems fine.

Before, I had Bermuda and the main differences to me are; more fertilizer, increased mowing frequencies and not shade tolerant. I had to cut more frequently with Bermuda to not cut into the brown stalk area since I was reel mowing, with Jamur the whole blade is green, so allowing it to grow out some doesn't do any harm and I actually prefer that, as sometimes time gets away from me. My Jamur seems to do a decent job with shade. Overall, I am happy with my Zoysia Jamur.

Either grass could not stand up to my dogs pee, haha.

Here is my journal I had going for a bit when I moved into the new house.

jdrop01 Jamur Zoysia Lawn Journal

Decided to take some progress photos along the way of my newly built home that was laid with Jamur Zoysia. I am coming from hybrid Bermuda and have to relearn application rates since Zoysia tends to like low nitrogen from my research. We moved into our new house on March 28th. I applied...

www.thelawnforum.com

So sorry for the late reply after you were nice enough ti share your experience! I’m still undecided considering I’m most concerned with shade tolerance and HOC since I don’t own a reel. Was under the impression celebration can survive a longer HOC at 0.75” but since the yard is small scalping it would really stick out! The shade tolerance for celebration even with it ranking the highest shade tolerant cultivar is concerning since my backyard is north west facing. The house seems to shade closest to the foundation for a good part of the day but it’s also winter. I wish I could remember what it looked like during growing season. As I mentioned in a previous response the thought of using my own sprigs once the sod is established is really convincing too when i transition my SA soon.

still just as undecided as when I first started the thread lol

 

[Movingshrub]

Do you have any areas now where the st Aug isn’t growing due to a lack of light?

 

[Boomhauer]

@Movingshrub
Ha, I just was searching Burmuda shade posts on here and came across the reply from you talking about usijg a non-POS DLi light meter! I was contemplating getting one before seeing this but wasn’t sure which one.

to answer your question the SA seems to grow just fine in my shadiest part of the house which consists of the joining of two fences off to the side of my backyard. I have noticed some thinning in my front yard where my live oak is which has since been pruned although this isn’t the area renovating.

I really want celebration Burmuda but super discouraged that my house casts a lot of shade until about 1pm. I know during the growing season the suns arc will change, but would hate to find out I was wrong a year later. As of right now the shade line works its way towards the foundation but at that point it’s so late in the day.

I’m leaning towards zoysia but the price difference compared to Burmuda is pretty significant

 

[Movingshrub]

@Movingshrub
Ha, I just was searching Burmuda shade posts on here and came across the reply from you talking about usijg a non-POS DLi light meter! I was contemplating getting one before seeing this but wasn’t sure which one.

to answer your question the SA seems to grow just fine in my shadiest part of the house which consists of the joining of two fences off to the side of my backyard. I have noticed some thinning in my front yard where my live oak is which has since been pruned although this isn’t the area renovating.

I really want celebration Burmuda but super discouraged that my house casts a lot of shade until about 1pm. I know during the growing season the suns arc will change, but would hate to find out I was wrong a year later. As of right now the shade line works its way towards the foundation but at that point it’s so late in the day.

I’m leaning towards zoysia but the price difference compared to Burmuda is pretty significant

I bought a light scout meter. It worked well for me. I wanted to know if I was going to have enough light before pulling the trigger on Bermuda.

if you are at all worried about the amount of light, especially right up next to your house, and don’t plan to overseed. I would strongly consider zoysia. Yes it’s pricey. There’s also something to be said for the cost of time spent cutting bermuda all the time. I have three little kids and travel for work. I couldn’t keep up with Bermuda and finally went with a robot.

 

[jayhawk]

Zoysia can handle a toddler, it's not a flower

 

[ZeonJNix]

I've had Zeon and 419. Both are great, both are fun to cut, both can stripe really well even at low heights.

Zeon - slow grower compared to 419. Bare spots or any bad/fungus spots are very slow to recover which is a bummer. Really have to keep Nitrogen low and watering low or you will be battling fungus all the time (I learned the hard way). When I would let the kids play football or soccer in the yard I could always see the foot prints and wear, but it bounces back fairly quickly. Awesome color, stripes amazing and soft to walk on. It has the wow factor driving down the street. People say that its so much more shade tolerant that Bermuda, but I tend to disagree. I would say it might be a little better, but nothing substantial.

Bermuda - I love Bermuda! I like to cut a lot and not use PGR so I get to cut everyday if I want or every other day. If you have any bad spots, they wont be bad for long as it grows and spreads so fast. I think it handles the wear and tear really nicely. You can basically do anything you want to it and it will bounce back. Needs all the heat and sun - any shade areas and you will be disappointed.

 

[Boomhauer]

@ZeonJNix

As if I hadn’t changed my mind enough over a year, you’ve almost convinced me back to celebration!

That’s interesting you don’t find much of a difference between your Burmuda and zeon when it comes to shade tolerance! I was curious how much better each cultivar of zoysia would fair against celebration.I also love to mow and a slight drawback for zoysia was the lack of mowing that it needs. Since the area is only 2k sq ft, I don’t think I can chance the shade as a small area would really stand out.

It gets significantly more sun during the growing season, do you think the grass can handle more shade in the non growing season since it’s dormant?

I’m pretty certain that I’ll go with palisades, we typically go through a drought in the summer here in Fort Worth and felt like the drought Tolerance is major plus along with its recuperative ability! Zorro sounds Tempting too since it seems resistant to chinch bugs and army worms.