[Ecks from Tex]

The short of it is I may have to kill off entire zones of my St. Augustine lawn due to an invasive weed that cannot be treated with selective herbicide. If I have to re-sod, I'd like to weigh my options and possibly move away from St. Augustine.

My problem is I have a shady lawn (very shady). The trees are very old live oaks that I can't/won't cut down, but they do need trimming badly which I plan to do after their growing season. That should open the canopy a little but I will always have a shady lawn.

My questions to any of the fine Zoysia turf pros in this forum:

• How much shade can the shade-tolerant cultivars of Zoysia tolerate?

• Do any of you have examples/pictures of your Zoysia growing in the shade that I could compare?

• Can anyone go through the pros/cons they have experienced with Zoysia?

 

[mrigney]

I'm not an experts, so what I"m saying is just my anecdotal experience. I live in north Alabama, and my front yard is Emerald Zoysia. Sodded long before I was around. My front yard has two large red oaks in it. I would call the front filtered sun at best throughout the day (morning time it's shaded by the house, afternoon it's shaded by trees across the street). The emerald does well. It grows slowly (not a bad thing necessarily), but doesn't struggle at all.

Here's a couple of pictures of the front to give you an idea
https://photos.app.goo.gl/RZsjYuU78bhYkymA2 (Google street view from before I moved in)
https://photos.app.goo.gl/EjAwdk7itOzC1NQv2 (pre spraying Celsius)
https://photos.app.goo.gl/857naoE3NQkfDBlC2 (close up...I dethatched this year so still thickening up in spots)

 

[Ecks from Tex]

@mrigney thank you sir you are giving me hope that it can be done. My yard definitely has comparable shade and a few patches with even a little more sunlight than you.

 

[Spammage]

@Ecks from Tex this is Palisades taken about a month ago. This area gets about 2 hours direct sun per day in the evening.

 

[Ecks from Tex]

@Ecks from Tex this is Palisades taken about a month ago. This area gets about 2 hours direct sun per day in the evening.

I honestly didn't think it would grow and thicken up without at least 4-6 hours of shade. This seems like a real possibility!

 

[Spammage]

@Ecks from Tex Here is a 4:10 pic for reference. The area behind the center Chinese Pistachio tree hasn't seen sunlight yet today and won't for another 1.5-2 hours. Also, keep in mind that this is being cut at 7/16", which is below the recommended minimum for this grass, at twice a week. The traffic seems to weaken it and it doesn't grow much in the shade anyway, so my plan going forward is to only cut once a week behind the tree trunks. At taller heights, the grass should be even more shade tolerant.

 

[jayhawk]

I'm on the road so I don't have pics handy. Good ones above and yesterday someone in the photos thread had a Geo example.

Pros - curb appeal; don't have to raise your cut over time to keep a green look, requires less fert, stripes well

Weakness- repair time, fungal risk (esp in shaded situations)....maybe not the darkest green?

Heavy shade- you just want minimize stress (cutting, traffic, ...)

@Movingshrub had a good write up on light meters etc. Bottom line, Not all shade is equal.

(Imho re fine bladed zoysia varieties)

 

[Movingshrub]

I'm on the road so I don't have pics handy. Good ones above and yesterday someone in the photos thread had a Geo example.

Pros - curb appeal; don't have to raise your cut over time to keep a green look, requires less fert, stripes well

Weakness- repair time, fungal risk (esp in shaded situations)....maybe not the darkest green?

Heavy shade- you just want minimize stress (cutting, traffic, ...)

@Movingshrub had a good write up on light meters etc. Bottom line, Not all shade is equal.

(Imho re fine bladed zoysia varieties)

Thanks for the plug. Easy example - light under a magnolia at noon and light under a pine at noon is not the same, and our eyes are REALLY bad at evaluating shade since they adapt to changes in light.

Light meter is a cheap investment before you spend a bunch of time and money on a grass that won't thrive based on the environment.

 

[Ecks from Tex]

I'm on the road so I don't have pics handy. Good ones above and yesterday someone in the photos thread had a Geo example.

Pros - curb appeal; don't have to raise your cut over time to keep a green look, requires less fert, stripes well

Weakness- repair time, fungal risk (esp in shaded situations)....maybe not the darkest green?

Heavy shade- you just want minimize stress (cutting, traffic, ...)

@Movingshrub had a good write up on light meters etc. Bottom line, Not all shade is equal.

(Imho re fine bladed zoysia varieties)

Thanks for the plug. Easy example - light under a magnolia at noon and light under a pine at noon is not the same, and our eyes are REALLY bad at evaluating shade since they adapt to changes in light.

Light meter is a cheap investment before you spend a bunch of time and money on a grass that won't thrive based on the environment.

I had no idea that existed. Buying one ASAP thanks dude!

 

[Movingshrub]

You may want to see if two others want to go in together. The price is better per unit if you get three. I used the DLI 100 light meter, the turf version, rather than the greenhouse one.

I would put the light meter in the sunniest part of your yard for several days to find out what the max is. Several days helps account for those partially cloudy days throwing everything off.

Then do the same test for a few days in the each of the areas where you are concerned about the amount of light.

Compare your DLI results to what DLI each type or cultivar demands. Keep in mind though - ALL warm season grass likes full direct sun; I don't know of a one that get sun burn.