Zoysia in Houston

71hemicuda – posted 06 May 2005 13:01

Does anyone know a good place to purchase Zoysia sod in Houston, TX? Also what is the latest month i can sod w/ Zoysia?

ted – posted 06 May 2005 17:33

milberger turf or bay city turf- i think you can do it now ok.

ted – posted 06 May 2005 17:33

p.s. zoysia is a rarity in houston. might want to consult some local experts first.

RickL – posted 08 May 2005 12:36

Zoysia is not rare in Houston. It is just unappreciated and unknown. There have been several new cultivars that work particularly well in the Houston area. Among them are Cavalier (a fine bladed dense grass that makes a carpet resembling steel wool). Cut short, Cavalier can resemble Tif Bermuda as seen in most fairways of golf courses in the Houston area. It can thatch up if not cut short and requires a golf course type roller blade.

The types I would recommend that are readily available in the Houston area are El Toro and Palisades. I have Palisades in my Back yard in Spring, Texas. El Toro and Palisades are virtually identical in appearance. They are both medium blade varieties just developed in the last 8 years. El Toro 8 and Palisades just 2 years ago. They are both varieties that have been specifically bred for climates like Houston. The reason I like Palisades is that it is in appearance it has some similarities to St Augustine because of the thicker blade. But because it is thinner than St. Augustine, it looks more professional. You can also cut it EASILY with any mower. It also has a vertical growth pattern which looks nicer. Cavalier kind of bends over and can get squashed looking with traffic because of the thin blade. I have not had a winter with Palisades yet so I can not comment on its Winter color. I have heard that it stays green longer and comes up quicker than El Toro. I have been told it will turn a golden wheat color for 70% of the grass for about 2 months in Houston if it is a cold winter.

DO realize that the reason most people choose St. Augustine is because it is SOOOOOO easy to grow in Houston. It is basically a weed and builders know that they don’t have to worry about it or take care of it and it is cheap. Zoysia will take a little more care. It does NOT look great like St. Augustine at install. It will take a little nurturing and time, but in the end it kicks St. Augustines ass as far as looks and density. It looks like a fairway.

Call Mataturf in Houston. I DO NOT work for them, just did a lot of research and bought my grass there.

ted – posted 08 May 2005 15:39

i was in business for 20 years in houston, and i can name 2 lawns that have it. we have to be clear about our recommendations on this board. zoysia has alot of extra maintenance with dethatching and proper mowing, and lots more issues in houston with the disease and insect pressure, than say Dallas. it is most definitely a rarity, but should work if there’s a knowledgeable homeowner.

RLines – posted 08 May 2005 20:22

Zoysia is a lot more maintenance than St. Augustine. No doubt.

I should be clear that there are only 2 varieties I would have considered for Houston. El Toro and Palisades. The other varieties that are thin bladed are terrible for Houston. It has only been recently that these have been introduced.

I am not in the ag business, just did a bunch of research on it including visiting fields of each variety. I just wanted something that was better looking than St. Augustine. I think I found it. We will see.

RLines – posted 18 May 2005 21:38

Palisades going on 8 weeks down now….Still disappointed a little. Some areas are very thick others are bare.

I am a little disappointed on how it feels on your feet. Maybe it just needs to be fuller, but it feels prickly.

Will update in a few weeks

RLines – posted 06 September 2005 09:44

FULL UPDATE:

I would fully recommend Palisades Zoysia to anyone in Houston area. After my initial apprehension this grass has exceeded all of my expectations. It is September now and I have a full, full lawn of green beautiful grass. It is easy to mow with a rotary blade and it is great to walk on. It is worth it. Just keep in mind that initially on install it may not look as great as others. Its just the way it goes into shock initially.

turfrus – posted 06 September 2005 12:24

The locals around Fredericksburg love Palisades for the reasons you state. I think you made a great choice. I chose Jamur and after 2 weeks it has rooted in and looks great, like a golf course. Very green with a great feel to barefeet. It’s like walking on silk it’s so soft. It is very dense and very slow growing – I have yet a need to mow it. The mature blades are about 2 1/2″ tall which suggests it may not need hardly any mowing at all regarding its height. So far, lateral spreading is non-existent, then again, I blame the extremely slow growth and lack of spreading on the fact that we haven’t had a decent rain since April. I reckon it will grow an inch after a couple of inches of rain – high salts (carbonates and sulfates) well water just doesn’t cut it when it comes outstanding plant performance. I noticed this with St. Aug too….City tap water just sustained it, but get a 2″ inch and whoa, it took off!

Centipede would be a good choice for Houston too me thinks.

Harald – posted 06 September 2005 14:25

I’m planing of having Zoysia in my Houston backyard. I hear, that Zoysia is high maintainance compared to St. Augustine. Can someone explain? Thanks

QWERTY – posted 06 September 2005 21:58

I agree about tap water and rainfall. It hasnt rained much in DFW area and whenever it rained, my grass looked a lot better! Well, I’m going to go outside and do some rain dancing around the campfire and pray for some rain. Tap water sucks…

it looks like I’ll be getting Empire zoysia from a local sod farm. it’s a lot cheaper than palisade, Jamur and others.

turfrus – posted 07 September 2005 05:43

Zoysia is NOT high maintenance compared to SA, in fact, it is much lower. It needs less water, fertlizer, mowing, and may do better regarding diseases like Brown Patch. SA gets Take-All. The problem with Zoysia is thatch buildup because it is so darn dense, BUT, SA is also prone to thatching. Zoysia is not prone to dieback due to hard freezes or drought conditions like SA. During drought, leaves will curl inward and it’ll just go dormant. Underground rhysomes protect if from hard freezes.

Yeah, I have a cousin in Dallas and you are experiencing the same drought we are. Mama natur couldn’t be more unkind right now. I built when the rain wouldn’t let up causing all kinds of logistical problems and damn if the water tap wasn’t turned off as soon as I put in my landscape material. Another reason why I gave up on Zenith after much trouble and expense. If you have limited rainfall and a weed problem, seeding is NOT for you. Been there, done that.

Good luck with the Empire. It’s a beautiful grass but you might as well be mowing steel wool. Best have an angle grinder on hand and keep the blades razor sharp. I put an edge on a brand new blade yesterday in prep to mow my Jamur which has medium width blades.

QWERTY – posted 07 September 2005 10:20

My 5’x8′ enclosed area of Zenith is doing great after a month when they first started to sprout. So far, I’m impressed with its ablity to withstand full brunt of afternoon sun. Looks better than my bermuda front yard and SA in the backyard. They are about 2 inches tall and getting thicker. Not too bad. Im surprised to see very few weeds so I got lucky there! I looked at NTEP website and it has pretty good cold tolerant, one of the best. Good green color. Seeding might be a lot cheaper but I’d much rather sod. I don’t feel like having to worry about weeds or bermuda sprouting up somewhere. Bermuda will sprout back up and start spreading alot faster if you don’t pay attention!

I could have sworn that Empire isn’t as tough as other varieties for cutting. I will have to look that up to make sure it’s Empire. It came directly from Brazil so it might be a bit different from others that came from Asian countries. Empire has medium width blades (5-6 mm) so rotary mower can be used. Empire also supposedly have less thatching problems. I’ve yet to hear that from anyone with empire zoysia.

FYI – keeping soil rich of microbes will help break down thatches more quickly. That’s how thatches are broken down. Kill them with too much chemicals and you will have serious thatching problem.

turfrus – posted 08 September 2005 06:23

Managing a 40 s.f. area of Zenith is alot different than doing my 6,000 s.f. I loved the Zenith and still have patches that are green and healthy (in future flower beds) that have received virtually no rain or water for months. Wife wanted me to do it again next year, but $2,000 later, we are real happy with our new Jamur lawn – I got tired of red muck when it rained, and white dogs turning shades of red. Being in the middle of farm acreage, seeding is not an option although I will try next spring doing about 20,000 s.f. in La Prima bermuda seed around the house.

I’ve seen Empire, and it sure looked wirey to me, at least next to japonica types.

There’s enough microbes in rainwater to take care of most thatch, but you still have to have N for them to feed on.

Good luck

QWERTY – posted 08 September 2005 07:22

As far as i know, too much N fertilizer promote excessive growth leading to excessive thatch build up. Zoysia generally doesnt need much N but bermuda needs a lot more N to stay green. I’ve read posts by some people fertlizing zoysia like they’re bermuda. Oh well…

Microbes in rainwater? That’s a first i’ve heard . To feed microbes in the soil, I just throw down cheap protein based grains. If i want to improve the population drastically, molasses will do the trick. I’m working on my first batch of arated compost tea. It should be ready this evening. My batch is 4 gallon which is enough to foliar spray on plants on one acre! Soil drench for 10,000 sqft. Basically same as using real high quality compost but it cost me 25 bucks to build one and one 3.50 dollar bag of good quality and 7 bucks for seaweed liquid which supposedly help grow specific type of fungi which is really good for the soil. That should be enough to brew 4 gallon at least 5 more, maybe 10 more before I run out of compost and seaweed liquid. For that kind of quality compost, that’d cost around 1200-1500 bucks. Eh. Better spray than haul around that much compost. This will greatly benefit any soils in poor condition. Anyway, this compost tea maker is comparable to much more expensive to achieve same quality.

turfrus – posted 09 September 2005 13:50

Good luck with your rocket fuels.

You’re right, excessive N DOES support thatch via excessive vegetative growth. I was just alluding to the fact that the N to C ratio has be right to keep the microbes healthy and active, working on breaking down the cellulose. No N, no hungry microbes. Rainwater contains air borne microbes, by the millions per teaspoon – I forgot the exact amount, and carries beneficial N, reason why your lawn greens up so nice after a good thunderstorm.

Jash927 – posted 05 October 2005 20:26

We are closing on our house on 10/21/05, which has SA in the front. Will I be ok to put palisades zoysia sod in the back yard or is it to late in the year. Also my builder was telling me I might have a problem having 2 different kinds of grass. They sodded the front and the back will be seperated by the fence.

mindygail – posted 08 January 2006 03:38

quote:Originally posted by RLines:FULL UPDATE:

I would fully recommend Palisades Zoysia to anyone in Houston area. After my initial apprehension this grass has exceeded all of my expectations. It is September now and I have a full, full lawn of green beautiful grass. It is easy to mow with a rotary blade and it is great to walk on. It is worth it. Just keep in mind that initially on install it may not look as great as others. Its just the way it goes into shock initially.

mindygail – posted 08 January 2006 03:44

I too live in Spring Texas and am interested in the Zoysia grass for my new home. I have about 1 acre of lawn area. How is the Palisades doing now? I would love to see yours if possible. Our new house is on Boudeaux near Kurkyndahl.Mindygail

quote:Originally posted by RLines:FULL UPDATE:

I would fully recommend Palisades Zoysia to anyone in Houston area. After my initial apprehension this grass has exceeded all of my expectations. It is September now and I have a full, full lawn of green beautiful grass. It is easy to mow with a rotary blade and it is great to walk on. It is worth it. Just keep in mind that initially on install it may not look as great as others. Its just the way it goes into shock initially.

Mike B – posted 14 January 2006 11:58

I too live in Spring (Montgomery County) and am considering Zoysia. We have a 1.25 acre lot with lots of shade. I found Zorro Zoysia and Amerishade St. Augustine on the internet as shade tolerant. Does anyone have these or know how they will hold up with low sunlight? Does anyone have any other ideas for a shade tolerant lawn in the Houston area.

turfraider – posted 03 March 2006 20:03

i sodded my front yard w/ zorro this past october. i have quite a bit of shade from live oaks (san antonio), so that’s why i chose zorro. with the mild winter, a lot of it hasn’t even gone dormant. i over-seeded with perennial rye, so as soon as it burns out i’ll be back w/ a report.