Have you brought Zoysia back from the dead?

mrmumbels – posted 24 April 2013 20:02

Has anyone managed to bring their Zoysia back from the dead or had a lawn company bring it back? Any tricks for central FL?

ezf – posted 25 April 2013 12:04

I didn’t water my zoysia at all last season and some went completely dormant during the hottest days. Instead of watering it for the short term relief, I decided to spread some compost/fine mulch and rake it in the grass to help reserve moisture for longer time. The dormant grass recovered in about two weeks and did wonders for the rest of the summer.

ezf – posted 25 April 2013 12:13

BTW, I maintain it organically so that I don’t need to worry about the thatch or having to cut it short. I keep the grass around 2.75-3″ and the compost/fine mulch almost disappeared when raked in.

Tos – posted 30 April 2013 21:12

I’m worried about my Empire Zoysia too. I live in Central Florida and cut my lawn on the lowest setting (about 1″) in January. The lawn was straw brown and is just starting to turn green. There are many places that look dead with the exception of a few green blades here and there. My lawn had been the envy of the neighborhood until I scalped it in January. I’m wondering if adding some peat moss will help hold some moisture in. We are finally getting some good rain and I’m hoping that will help bring the beauty of the Empire Zoysia back.

ezf – posted 01 May 2013 00:48

Adding a layer of peat moss (or compost) is going to help the grass tremendously from my experience. It also works effectively as an insulating layer for the heat conduction.

[This message has been edited by ezf (edited 01 May 2013).]

mrmumbels – posted 01 May 2013 19:09

Tried peat moss a few years back with no luck. Be careful as it’s highly acidic. I’ve also been mulching my clippings and all my leaves from my 4 huge oaks and it hasn’t helped to hold any moisture. I also dropped at least 15 bags of alfalfa the last 2 years with no luck. The alfalfa does make healthy grass look even better but did nothing for the struggling stuff unless I dug up the sod and placed it at the roots. It made that spot healthy for a season.

ezf – posted 02 May 2013 00:30

The type of compost I used last season was bought from home depot called something like “soil conditioner”. It looks like aged wood waste, very cheap. Leaves or alfalfa may decompose too fast for insulation purpose. You are right about peat moss though which is also very expensive. I raked in a 1/2-1 inch layer only at the brown spots last season and it already took 4 large bags of the stuff. It would take a truckload of compost to cover the entire lawn.

mrmumbels – posted 02 May 2013 15:37

There’s a company in Tampa that sells compost by the yard and will come and blow it onto your lawn.

http://www.mothersorganics.com/products/organics-for-sale.html

pyro – posted 02 May 2013 19:41

i’ve had decent luck with www.organicsafelawns.com …only kicker is they only serve the tampa area

ezf – posted 02 May 2013 23:44

Super Tips — Hardwood sawdust for topdressing greenshttp://www2.gcsaa.org/gcm/1998/may98/05super.html

I am going to test it on my zoysia since it can be used with a spreader and zoysia isn’t demanding on N.

mrmumbels – posted 03 May 2013 21:07

but sawdust molds… :/

ezf – posted 11 May 2013 15:56

I spread 6 bags of fresh saw dust a few days ago to a patch of Emerald zoysia around 400sf. The zoysia seems to love it! It turns darker green only after a few days and is growing faster than the surrounding bermuda.

mrmumbels – posted 14 May 2013 19:07

Where do you get the saw dust and is it the thicker stuff from a chainsaw or fine stuff from sanding?

ezf – posted 18 May 2013 17:49

It’s the thicker stuff from a chainsaw. I bought it from a local sawmill. BTW, after applying the saw dust two weeks ago, my zoysia patches look very green and vigorous even though I haven’t fertilized my lawn yet. I guess the saw dust layer provides a comfortable physical environment for zoysia grass.