[tneicna]

I live in the upper parts of the Transition Zone and I've been very tempted to obtain Zoysia, such as Innovation Zoysia as it's a cross between Chinese Common (which is cold hardy) and has Z. matrella like quality..

(Now, if I decided to go through with this, I will be stuck with it as my neighbors will end up getting it. I want to do a lawn border with some plastic/rubber strips that are 5 or 6 inches in height. Time is running out as it's June)

The other option is a Bermudagrass, but it grows too fast for me - And my neighbors might end up angry if I had it installed due to their love of their gardens.

So Zoysia Owners.. what are your thoughts on it? Maintenance? Things to watch out for?

 

[Tadams1186]

I just sodded an area by my pool cuz we obviously hang out there only in the summer with Zeon Zoysia which requires less mowing and can be mowed lower. It's beautiful and was easy to establish from sod. I am in Maryland in transition zone. Good luck!

 

[Greendoc]

Zoysia can grow even faster than Bermuda. Especially in hot climates. A 5-6 inch deep barrier is also not deep enough to stop it. Think 12" or more. It is an extremely difficult grass to mow. Similar to trying to mow bamboo kept at 1/2-3/4". In areas with wet falls and springs, diseases are an issue.

When you say Bermuda grows too fast, what kind? I know some of the hybrids and all of the common non hybrid from seed are rampant growers, especially when over fertilized. Properly watered and fertilized Bermuda should not need more than every 4 day mowing.

t

 

[Tadams1186]

This type zeon zoysia is known as a slow grower and cold hardy. Mowing period of 7-10 days at recommenced height of .5"-1.5"

 

[ksturfguy]

I don't have a lot of it so can't really give an opinion yet but I just installed 70 plugs of Innovation Zoysia 2 weeks ago in a 10x10 test plot area. It was designed by my local university and is supposed to be cold hardy so figured I would see what it's all about. I would never transition my whole yard to it but I wouldn't mind maintaining a small area of it and mow it low and maybe have it as an area I chip or hit golf balls.

 

[tneicna]

Zoysia can grow even faster than Bermuda. Especially in hot climates. A 5-6 inch deep barrier is also not deep enough to stop it. Think 12" or more. It is an extremely difficult grass to mow. Similar to trying to mow bamboo kept at 1/2-3/4". In areas with wet falls and springs, diseases are an issue.

When you say Bermuda grows too fast, what kind? I know some of the hybrids and all of the common non hybrid from seed are rampant growers, especially when over fertilized. Properly watered and fertilized Bermuda should not need more than every 4 day mowing.

Out of all the papers I've read over on the various journals (PLoS, etc) suggests that 65% of the cultivars of Zoysia have a lower growth rate than hybrid Bermudas.

Speaking of barries, the stolen/rhizome depth is questionable. Some things I've found say 2 to 4 inches, others say 6. Sadly, I can't find any definitive papers/data.

 

[Greendoc]

Which hybrid. There are slow growers like Tifdwarf and Tifgrand and there are fast growers like Tifway 419. What is not discussed is what a miserable experience it is to get Zoysia that has gotten overgrown back to its height of cut. I would rather deal with Bermuda that has gotten a little long rather than Zoysia.

Real world experience with these grasses demonstrates that a 6 inch barrier is breached from underneath

 

[tneicna]

Which hybrid. There are slow growers like Tifdwarf and Tifgrand and there are fast growers like Tifway 419. What is not discussed is what a miserable experience it is to get Zoysia that has gotten overgrown back to its height of cut. I would rather deal with Bermuda that has gotten a little long rather than Zoysia.

Real world experience with these grasses demonstrates that a 6 inch barrier is breached from underneath

Latitude 36, Patriot, Northbridge as a start.

I'd like Latitude 36, but I'm scared of getting it then the maintenance exceeds that of my currently beaten down KBG lawn (which gets mauled in the transition zone heat)

 

[tneicna]

I just sodded an area by my pool cuz we obviously hang out there only in the summer with Zeon Zoysia which requires less mowing and can be mowed lower. It's beautiful and was easy to establish from sod. I am in Maryland in transition zone. Good luck!

Very nice!

I'm going to have to go the plug route because no one close has Innovation! (I live near Winchester, VA)

 

[Greendoc]

Which hybrid. There are slow growers like Tifdwarf and Tifgrand and there are fast growers like Tifway 419. What is not discussed is what a miserable experience it is to get Zoysia that has gotten overgrown back to its height of cut. I would rather deal with Bermuda that has gotten a little long rather than Zoysia.

Real world experience with these grasses demonstrates that a 6 inch barrier is breached from underneath

Latitude 36, Patriot, Northbridge as a start.

I'd like Latitude 36, but I'm scared of getting it then the maintenance exceeds that of my currently beaten down KBG lawn (which gets mauled in the transition zone heat)

Keep your N down and those grasses are not hard to live with. Handles heat and humidity just fine. Better than a cool season grasss

 

[tneicna]

Could I install some latitude 36 plugs, then use Revolver to kill the existing KBG lawn after a bit of time?

 

[UFG8RMIKE]

In Florida. Love zoysia. Neighbors all going crazy over it too since all they usually see is St Aug, which sux.

No clue where difficult to cut comes in, its been cut (and scalped) w rotary and a reel. I can't imagine needing to cut the grass 2-3 times a week. I have wayyy to many other hobbies to salve over the yard or need to apply chemicals to slow its growth . It gets fertilized every 6 weeks during growing season, prodiamine and fungicide 2x a year. And herbicide when needed.

Don't let it grow too high, bag clippings, and keep the thatch level low. Zoysia does like heat and I'm in FL so not sure how it does where u are.

.

 

[LAG Gamecock]

I have 6in border around my beds and have had no problems with my zoysia getting across. I had 4in before and it went under. I have Meyer zoysia from when my house was built 11 years ago.

 

[jayhawk]

I had 100% bermuda. switched to zeon, it's (matrella) just significantly visually superior at .75 or 3" year round. i wish it was more disease resistant (fungal) but i would do it again and continue to (e.g. HOA areas).

bermuda will frustrate many in the summer - there are numerous posts here each year with folks asking about HOC 'resets' or "why does it look scalped after i mow". hard to deal with unless you're mowing a near pool table flat yard.

upright growth, my tifgrand may lag my zeon?

 

[ksturfguy]

I got my Innovation plugs from http://www.toddvalleyfarms.com/. It was the cheapest option I found, not sure if you found anything better or not.

 

[BenC]

Zeon zoysia grows slow, fungus susceptible, super shade tolerant, handles full sun, needs irrigation system, but bounces back from a drought too. Most importantly its simply the best grass on the planet. people love to take their shoes off in my yard.

 

[ksturfguy]

Here are a couple closeups of my innovation zoysia plugs, today is 2 week mark. I applied another round of liquid fert today. Doing it weekly for the first month then will back off to every other week. As you can see I didn't really get the area ready for plugging, I had planned on it but actually received the shipment faster then expected and was going out of town for a few days so didn't know how they would handle sitting in a box so just planted them the best I could. I have some fescue and weeds mixed in. I will spray the weeds in a few weeks, didn't want to do it too early and harm the zoysia.

Like I said in a previous post, don't really have a plan for this area just like experimenting with different grass types. This area of my property is out of sight and in the past was not really maintained outside of weekly mowing. Right next to this area I have another plot with cool season grasses.

If the zoysia becomes too invasive or starts creeping closer to my neighbors property then I might have to spray it with glyphosate but until then going to maintain it and my cool season plots in the 1.5 to 2.5" range and just compare the looks and feel of the two throughout the different growing seasons.

 

[critterdude311]

I live in the upper parts of the Transition Zone and I've been very tempted to obtain Zoysia, such as Innovation Zoysia as it's a cross between Chinese Common (which is cold hardy) and has Z. matrella like quality..

(Now, if I decided to go through with this, I will be stuck with it as my neighbors will end up getting it. I want to do a lawn border with some plastic/rubber strips that are 5 or 6 inches in height. Time is running out as it's June)

The other option is a Bermudagrass, but it grows too fast for me - And my neighbors might end up angry if I had it installed due to their love of their gardens.

So Zoysia Owners.. what are your thoughts on it? Maintenance? Things to watch out for?

I'm in the process of converting my backyard over from a typical TTTF/PRG/KBG mix to Meyer Zoysia. Reason being is, many of my surrounding neighbors have it and it encroaches on my yard each year. Rather than continuously fight it chemically, I've decided to embrace it. It took several years for me to come around to it, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized how much I appreciate the qualities of it: self-healing / no overseeding requirements, no more watering aside from occasional drought situations, little if any herbicide spraying once established, the ability to mow low during the hottest parts of the year, the carpet like texture, etc. If you have children or pets, you'll appreciate the hardiness factor -- it's ok to play! Long story short: less inputs and more time spent actually enjoying the turf. Meyer does extremely well in my area, and I'm assuming innovation would be very similar for you.

As others have mentioned, you might want to go a bit deeper than 6 inches in the ground with your barriers. It's a slow moving grass, but highly invasive in the sense that once it takes over an area, it owns it and will continue to move. If it breaks the property boundary, short of chemical solutions, it will be highly difficult to control, particularly if your neighbors are not lawn enthusiasts. It could definitely put a strain on the relationship with your neighbors if they are not onboard the Z-train.

Mow it once to twice a week in the peak season at 1.5" or lower, keep the thatch levels down, and you should have an amazing lawn once it is fully established. I find myself laying in a hammock in the backyard admiring it after a cut. I think you'll love it once established.

 

[tneicna]

I got my Innovation plugs from http://www.toddvalleyfarms.com/. It was the cheapest option I found, not sure if you found anything better or not.

That's what I've looked at. I think I'm going to give it a try in a small test area, I have to come up with some creative things to keep it isolated to my property, otherwise my neighbors will complain.

 

[Greendoc]

I had 100% bermuda. switched to zeon, it's (matrella) just significantly visually superior at .75 or 3" year round. i wish it was more disease resistant (fungal) but i would do it again and continue to (e.g. HOA areas).

bermuda will frustrate many in the summer - there are numerous posts here each year with folks asking about HOC 'resets' or "why does it look scalped after i mow". hard to deal with unless you're mowing a near pool table flat yard.

upright growth, my tifgrand may lag my zeon?

Reason why Bermuda frustrates is because it is overfed. Overfed Bermuda or any other warm season grass will grow so fast that it can require a twice a day mowing to keep it down. Not twice a week, twice a day.