Comparative of zoysia varities

QWERTY – posted 27 August 2005 20:13

I found this very helpful. http://www.agry.purdue.edu/turf/report/2004/p43.pdf

Looks like El Toro is the biggest winner if someone is looking to plug. They spread the fastest by far. Interestingly, Companion spreads relatively fast, much faster than Zenith. Someone recommended Jumar but this study showed that Jumar is one of the slowest to spread. Empire is in the middle of the pack. Meyer is very slow…

QWERTY – posted 27 August 2005 20:31

Another one…

http://www.plantmanagementnetwork.org/pub/ats/research/2005/zoysia/

Enjoy it!

QWERTY – posted 28 August 2005 08:34

Anyone with experiences with zoysia should write explaining what they experienced with it, which variety, pro and cons, location, and so on.

As a kid, I asked my mom to order those zoysia plugs from mail order catalog and they worked fine in houston. I *think* it was El Toro? They looked great. My brother told me that it still looks great, better than SA which still dominates the lawn.

I’m currently growing Zenith in a small enclosed area for the heck of it (in south of Dallas-FT Worth) and they seem to be thriving after a month. I still have ways to go to get them to establish before the cold weather comes. I probably have at least a month of growing season left.

I will or hope to sod the entire front yard with Zoysia, probably Empire – There is a empire farm 20 miles from my house so I figured it must be doing well plus it’s a lot cheaper. At first i wanted Palisade or El Toro but found out out that it’s 188 and 166 a pallet respectively compared to 138 for Empire.

turfraider – posted 29 August 2005 19:40

i work quite a bit with the jamur zoysia. it’s actually quite aggressive (not sure about plugs) when sodded. it does well in shade. i prefer zeon myself, just waiting to get the $ to install.

turfrus – posted 31 August 2005 12:36

Jamur is very aggressive, more so than varieties like El Toro. Accordingly, it tends to thatch a bit more. Also reason why Jamur is cheaper – because of its faster production rate. It’s underground rhyzomes are very thick and branching. It’s also the hardiest (toughest) of the medium bladed Zoysias, very shade tolerant, soil type tolerant, drought tolerant, etc.

QWERTY – posted 31 August 2005 21:03

So once Jamur is established, that’s when they start being agressive but not as agressive spreader when plugged?

turfrus – posted 01 September 2005 07:09

My Jamur has not been in long enough to give a valid assessment regarding above ground stolon spread. All I can tell you is the underground rhysomes are very prolific based on breaking some of the sod apart. Also, in spite of having no big rain event since April, most of the sod has rooted in within 7 days….remarkable really. Instant lawn!

Regarding studies, Purdue measured above ground spread of Zoysias. Some Zoysia cultivars do not have much below ground rhisome activity, AND, what works in one of the country is totally different than another part. Go to the NTEP site and look at the huge disparity between grasses grown in Texas/OK versus Maryland for example. That site is a must-see.

Houstondude – posted 06 September 2005 09:32

Palisades ZOysia has worked great for me in HOuston. SOd establishment takes about 8 weeks. Have patience, it looks like crap when placed. It kind of stresses out, but its not dead! After 8 weeks, watch out. It is thick, green, great to walk on. Easy to cut with a rotary mower because it is medium bladed vertical growing. Some have said that it is slow growing, but that is NOT my experience. It spreads quickly and fills in great! Responds to fertilizer with gusto within 72 hours.