young – posted 06 June 2001 09:42
I live in a city named Marina in Monterey County, CA (about 100 mi south of San Francisco). The city is near the ocean and thus kind of foggy and misty cool with sandy soil. I have about 6000 sq ft yard in my house with lots of weeds and bushes (I’ll remove them soon).I heard about Zoysia grass and have been doing extensive search on the web. I came up with “seed” versions of Zoysia; “zenith” & “companion” from zoysias.com or seedland.com as well as “sod” versions from other companies.Some say sod version of zoysia is necessary for successful establishment while some say (improved) seed version is good enough. I prefer faster germination and establishment, but am also concerned about the cost. So, seed version appears good to me.Can somebody help me choose what product from what company? I can’t figure out whose claim is trustworthy. Thanks.
[This message has been edited by young (edited 06 June 2001).]
sod buster – posted 09 June 2001 04:16
How abut hydroseeding? I’m in the same boat ad it seems like a good idea. I have some Scotts seed and I talked to Penn Seed/Super Sod in Lake City, GA(?). They are very reputable around here. I’ve inspected two hydroseeded yards and they looked good.
Alfred – posted 12 May 2003 18:13
[QUOTE]Originally posted by sod buster:I would like to receive a quote on about 60 palettes.Thanks
redbird – posted 10 July 2003 05:25
I would not even consider seeding unless it was hydro-seeding – I went through it both ways with common bermuda in the Dallas, TX area. It is a lot of work (and usually several seedings) to try and get a slow germinating grass seed (bermuda, centipede and ESPECIALLY zoysia)to take hold without being washed away by rain/sprinklers, eaten by birds and outcompeted by weeds. Hydro-seeding guarantees a more consistent, even result. In my experience, it worked pretty well. In comparing with seeding an extremely slow-growing grass (zoysia) with laying sod, consider more than initial cost and ask yourself this: How happy will you be when you are trying to nurture zoysia seedilings that are 1/8″ tall six weeks after planting while dealing with a weed crop that is growing a foot tall?
Food for thought.
Mike
Dchall_San_Antonio – posted 10 July 2003 08:05
You have probably already resolved these in your mind, but my concern with zoysia are these two issues:
1. What are you going to use the lawn for? Zoysia is a lawn to be appreciated from afar or walked through on stepping stones or decking. If you or a pet routinely walks through the grass, it will develop a low spot (in the grass, not the soil) along the path. It might go all the way to bare dirt if the pet is causing it.
2. How depressed are you going to be when a fungus hits the lawn and wipes out 30% of it before you realize it’s a fungus? When that happens you’ll think back about how long it took to get the grass established in the first place under the best of conditions. Refill for a disease wipe out can take many embarrassing months if not years. With the climate you describe, I would worry about fungus.
You’re wanting to go from weeds and bushes to the most intensive grass there is. I see zoysia successfully implemented at the zoo, some museums, and botanical gardens where full time maintenance workers can handle it. When it dies on them, they immediately resod because they have to have the look. I don’t see a lot of success at the homeowner level. I think the last of the zoysia lawns has left my neighborhood as of this season. Two of them bit the dust due to disease, and the owners (wealthy) were not willing to invest any more time or money into the lawn. These last two zoysia converts changed to the dominant grass in our area, St Augustine. Even the bermuda grass lawns are converting over to St Aug around here.
See if you can find a successful zoysia lawn in your neighborhood so you can talk to the owner. If he or she is absolutely thrilled with it, then get exactly the same brand or blend of grass(es) he or she has. Otherwise, just find the best looking lawn in the hood and work on establishing a stand of that grass.
Personally, I’m not willing to worry about my lawn. I use the dominant grass for the area and have found some low input maintenance practices that really work.