[JollyGreen]

I had Zeon Zoysia installed last August (was late in backyard remodel) and this year is its first summer of new growth. Since I couldn't put down pre-emergent due to the time last year I fought the Poa hard this spring hand pulling them 2 weeks ago. I threw down some Milo last week to hopefully get something going.

I am starting to notice that the right side of my lawn (gets direct sunlight all day) is starting to thin and get what appears to be a brown patch. I do have a problem by the gate that collects all the water runoff that I am needing to add a drain to but the dead area around it appears to be getting larger and the grass up the slope is starting to brown.

My two questions are:

1. What is causing the brown area and why am I starting to see brown patch areas? Do I have a fungus and what should I put down.

2. What should my main step be this summer to get this grass thick? I am cutting at about 1" with a reel.

 

[Gregau33]

I know you said you get direct sunlight all day, but from all your pictures it looks really shady. Do you have big trees nearby? Could the roots from the trees be hogging all the water and nutrients? I'd do a little digging in the dead areas and see what you find.

 

[JollyGreen]

I just took the picture and the sun comes up behind me. If I were to take it now it would be sunny. From 10:00 on it gets sun. The grass around the beds is the best grass in this area. I am pretty sure the large area is due to water because the entire winter it was basically mud but where it extends out and uphill i am not sure the reason.

 

[gatormac2112]

I have a huge area on the south end of my lawn that looks worse than that. For me it's near constant shade AND poor drainage in that area. If it gets full sun and you know it's a badly drained area I guess you need to address that

 

[BenC]

Jolly, my zeon looks kind of similar:



But it just got layed two months ago. I figure i'll Get it on regular teaspoon fertility schedule and tinker with irrigation timing, but otherwise I'll be in interested to hear what folks think. Spring was funky this year in the south, weather playing red light/green light with the green up, maybe part off the problem.

 

[gatormac2112]

Jolly, my zeon looks kind of similar:



But it just got layed two months ago. I figure i'll Get it on regular teaspoon fertility schedule and tinker with irrigation timing, but otherwise I'll be in interested to hear what folks think. Spring was funky this year in the south, weather playing red light/green light with the green up, maybe part off the problem.

I wouldn't have laid zoysia sod until May, early spring is just way too unpredictable. With that said, are the trees on the south side of the yard? If so you have the same problem I do.

 

[JollyGreen]

I water every 3 days as to not oversaturate it. Is throwing Milo down ever 3-4 weeks to try to push it through this a good idea? I'm going to topdress first of June but am hesitant to cover it up with sand if I have a problem with the grass. I don't want to smother it.

 

[BenC]

I was wondering if that might be a big part of the issue gator. I asked the landscapers that question and they seemed comfortable with it. Only thing left to do now is nurse it through. Trees are on the north side and will get thinned pretty heavy anyways when I can get to it.

 

[raymond]

I agree with the previous comments about he rough start this spring with the "go:no go" weather swings we had.

My Zoysia in Atlanta for example doesn't look great either. For me it's likely cause I'm cutting it shorter for the first time, but you can see how it's not very full.

P.s. this is taken at sunset and my grass is in the sun the rest of the day.

 

[Greendoc]

In poorly drained soils and shady areas, Zeon is dead. It is not necessarily a specific fungal disease or condition. Zeon just must be grown in sunny and well drained locations. I maintain two Zeon lawns. One was installed directly on the beach sand. It gets full sun no exceptions from sunrise to sunset. No problems or issues with it other than how fast it grows, I might need to use a PGR on it. The other one is planted on "topsoil" over what was originally sand. Lots of shady areas from trees, high concrete walls on the perimeters of the property. Only place that grows decently is the grass installed on the outside of the concrete walls wrapping around the entire property. The part that gets indirect sun filtering through shrubs and trees for only part of the day then that is cut off from the concrete walls and house, is poor.

 

[JollyGreen]

Man that is disappointing to hear. I was told that the Zeon did well in shady areas as well as sun. The area in question is the area with the most sun however I will say over the winter the area that started to die out was the wettest area. As mentioned before I plan to install a drain in the coming weeks but my main reason for the post was that I was starting to see some dead areas uphill of the lowest point. I am trying to manage my back yard (Zoysia) myself for this summer to see if I want to plant it in my front yard next year. I am just trying to find a good schedule to follow.

 

[jayhawk]

Zeon from my observations....drainage is critical for long term health. I know doc knocks it for shade but I'm seeing it excell around here.

 

[jayhawk]

Try not to stress too much. Late install last year and we have had a bunch of head fakes weather wise if anything like Atlanta.

 

[SCGrassMan]

That third pic looks like mine in the 8' or so strip between houses

 

[Greendoc]

The sides of houses are often designed to channel water from front to back or visa versa. I have yet to see healthy Zeon on the side of a house. @jayhawk is right about drainage. That beachfront lawn I deal with does have a coconut tree off to one side of it. Zeon is thick and vigorous even under the tree. However, that lawn is installed straight onto the sand. No "topsoil" under the sod.

 

[JollyGreen]

One of the other things I was worried about was my backyard had a fairly good slope on it. I leveled it taking about 2 feet of dirt off the top and built a retaining wall. Doing that cut a good amount of topsoil from the ground. The soil wasn't all clay but it wasn't all topsoil either. I may need to aerate and sand to give the ground some air.

 

[Greendoc]

Good idea. Out of all the Zoysias I have worked with, Zeon dislikes soil or clay the most out of all of them. The one issue I had getting Zeon to do well on sand immediately after installation was the irrigation. Daily watering was a must. Now I am at once a week at 0.3 inches of water per application. That will go up as it warms up. Average daytime temperatures are barely above 80.

 

[JollyGreen]

Since it was installed in August last year and this is the first spring am I good to aerate now and sand? Is there a good time or is that time now?

 

[JollyGreen]

Also should I be using Milo or the 15-3-7 or 16-4-8 that SiteOne has?

 

[Greendoc]

How low are you mowing? What did your soil test look like?