Jamur vs. Empire

awin4me – posted 19 April 2011 23:51

I have Empire experience, but does anyone have Jamur experiences? It’s time for me to sod the backyard, I did the front and sides in Empire and it’s doing well (outside of a couple of my own screw ups).

I noticed Jamur Zoysia mentioned on several sod distributors in Central Florida and wanted to see if anyone has a say on it.

vivona – posted 25 April 2011 16:57

I have JaMur in my lawn in Central Florida which I had installed by S&K Sod. It was installed in November 2010 and survived the two December freezes without a problem. It is looking pretty good now and just about ready for its second mowing.

JaMur is claimed to be a better than Empire. Here is some information you may find useful:

ken4255 – posted 25 April 2011 17:32

I have Jamur in Marietta GA. I am noticing now that it seems to produce a lot more thatch than the Meyer zoysia I have, which is counter to what is advertised about it. That’s about the only complaint I have. I have seen other posts about issues with Jamur in sandy soils in Florida, but I don’t have first hand experience with that. I have not seen Empire, so I can’t make a comparison with that.

Stan – posted 28 April 2011 14:03

Here in NC I plugged a few areas of bare ground from a square of Jamur. It did seem to run and grow fast but I noticed that it always had a light green color with a bluish cast. Later last summer I got a sample of Empire and El Torro. I noticed the color of these to be much more ‘happy green’. The Empire seems darker true green much like the Meyer. The El Torro is more vibrant green and much better than the blue green Jamur.

When I visited the Jamur farm in the heat of August it seemed to be suffering. I really think much of this ‘best’ or latest greatest is just marketing and it is all very subjective. I would say if you are happy with the Empire then stay with it.

By the way from my samples I found the Empire to have the widest blade and more open – in that you can see more of the ground below which reminds me of centipede. The color is much better. The sample I got was stressed from drought so I will have to wait and see how it fills in this year. Do you find Empire not very dense and open?

I find that El Torro is a very dense mat growing close to the ground.

mrmumbels – posted 28 April 2011 14:36

quote:Originally posted by Stan:Here in NC I plugged a few areas of bare ground from a square of Jamur. It did seem to run and grow fast but I noticed that it always had a light green color with a bluish cast. Later last summer I got a sample of Empire and El Torro. I noticed the color of these to be much more ‘happy green’. The Empire seems darker true green much like the Meyer. The El Torro is more vibrant green and much better than the blue green Jamur.

When I visited the Jamur farm in the heat of August it seemed to be suffering. I really think much of this ‘best’ or latest greatest is just marketing and it is all very subjective. I would say if you are happy with the Empire then stay with it.

By the way from my samples I found the Empire to have the widest blade and more open – in that you can see more of the ground below which reminds me of centipede. The color is much better. The sample I got was stressed from drought so I will have to wait and see how it fills in this year. Do you find Empire not very dense and open?

I find that El Torro is a very dense mat growing close to the ground.

I would say the exact opposite about empire. It’s wider blades cover more ground and it gets crazy thick.

awin4me – posted 29 April 2011 00:52

Yeah, my empire is quite thick and dense, only select troubled spots (lack of sun primarily) thin it out. If I walk barefoot its like walking on a giant sponge in most places my feet never collect dirt.

mrmumbels – posted 29 April 2011 05:57

quote:Originally posted by awin4me:Yeah, my empire is quite thick and dense, only select troubled spots (lack of sun primarily) thin it out. If I walk barefoot its like walking on a giant sponge in most places my feet never collect dirt.

I remember thinking I could almost walk on top of it My push mower def used to slightly float on it because the cut would get messed up.

AW, any pics yet?

Do you have any spots that will not grow vertical? I remember some of my problems started when the grass would just stay the same height in spots.

awin4me – posted 29 April 2011 14:15

mrm, yeah I’ll get ya some this weekend.

Not growing vertical. If you mean some slight “depression” looking areas in the overall sod? I’ve seen what you are talking about in a friends yard. Not sure of the cause, actually he just bought a piece of turf and patched that area.

So far the only areas I really screwed up are areas where I oversprayed (used too much) nutsedge killer. It didn’t kill my Empire the whole summer, but after the winter those areas just didn’t grow back. It’s the only explanation I can think of as its the only two spots I went nuts with the herbicide.

On other news, two neighbors in my community are prepped and not ready to lay their Empire. I’ll be watching and trying to help them resist some of my errors.

awin4me – posted 29 April 2011 19:09

mrm,

Here you go, I just clicked these with my camera phone so not the best, but decent. My comments on each photo:

1. Shows my sod next to a St. Augustine lawn next door.2. Close-up of Empire, shows some brown little spots (I just spread some herbicide so its doing its thing). 3. Just a close up nothing exciting there4. My other side yard you can see the neighbors St. Augustine and my footprints in my Empire5. Shot to my front, shows a few spots that will fill in over the next few weeks. Caused by “owner error” 6. You can see where my riding lawn mower has kind of dug in a bit on this radius turn. The dirt (top right) is neighbors yard he’s putting in a hedge.7. Weed – more specifically a pain in my butt weed. But it’s been treated but it likes to come back. Spurge I believe. I just treated it so its dying in this photo.8. Grass along the house plus what I have to still do in the “back yard”.

Here is the link:

Stan – posted 29 April 2011 22:54

Wow! It really looks thick and lush. The few squares I planted in September look nothing like this yet. I guess they might fill in after a couple of months. Do you think the sample I have in the slight shade of a large Sycamore will thicken up. I have a sample of El Toro next to it and I will be able to see which one likes the shade the most.

mrmumbels – posted 01 May 2011 08:48

Looks great!

Love_Zoysia – posted 01 June 2011 22:35

ken4255

I live in Marietta too and have 5000+ sq.feet of Jamur. I have been having some issues in my lawn – Poor Growth in newly sodded area as well as several bare spots in the existing lawn. I started organic last year with alfalfa and corn meal and had a beautiful lawn last season. But this year not sure why the grass is not growing in some areas. I have done soil test, but nothing seems to help. (PH is 6.7/6.9) Wondering if you can help me to identify the problem since you have Jamur. I live in east cobb area. Here are some pictures. Thanks

Originally posted by ken4255:I have Jamur in Marietta GA. I am noticing now that it seems to produce a lot more thatch than the Meyer zoysia I have, which is counter to what is advertised about it. That’s about the only complaint I have. I have seen other posts about issues with Jamur in sandy soils in Florida, but I don’t have first hand experience with that. I have not seen Empire, so I can’t make a comparison with that.

[This message has been edited by Love_Zoysia (edited 01 June 2011).]

mrmumbels – posted 02 June 2011 08:25

Are those purple blades in the last pic? Did you spray some raid on the grass? That happened to me once Have you dug out any spots to see the roots? If you can get some pics of the roots.

quote:Originally posted by Love_Zoysia:ken4255

I live in Marietta too and have 5000+ sq.feet of Jamur. I have been having some issues in my lawn – Poor Growth in newly sodded area as well as several bare spots in the existing lawn. I started organic last year with alfalfa and corn meal and had a beautiful lawn last season. But this year not sure why the grass is not growing in some areas. I have done soil test, but nothing seems to help. (PH is 6.7/6.9) Wondering if you can help me to identify the problem since you have Jamur. I live in east cobb area. Here are some pictures. Thanks

[This message has been edited by Love_Zoysia (edited 01 June 2011).][/B][/QUOTE]

Love_Zoysia – posted 02 June 2011 08:59

No I haven’t spray raid. I will post pictures of root soon

mrmumbels – posted 02 June 2011 14:32

no raid but are those blades really purple or is it the picture or my screen?

quote:Originally posted by Love_Zoysia:No I haven’t spray raid. I will post pictures of root soon

Love_Zoysia – posted 02 June 2011 14:34

You are right. Many Blades really got purple color; Some of them have gone dormant/dried now. Here are some root pictures

YoungClayB – posted 05 July 2011 11:41

quote:Originally posted by awin4me:Yeah, my empire is quite thick and dense, only select troubled spots (lack of sun primarily) thin it out. If I walk barefoot its like walking on a giant sponge in most places my feet never collect dirt.

Your grass looks great. What height are you mowing it at? I am mowing mine at 2.75″ this year and feel like it might look better if I went up to 3″ or even 3.25″.

erv999 – posted 12 August 2011 08:46

I got this question alot “which is better? Jamur or Empire?” Although I do not install much Jamur I can tell you about the dozens of Empire yards we have installed this year. I have never seen a grass so resilent and thick. From a maintance standpoint this is the go to grass I recommend for all my customers. The only issues I have seen is a little thinning out in high shade areas. Please call us @ 770-728-0994 if you live in the Atlanta area and your looking for new sod installation. I can show you different yards and the pros and cons of each type of grass. Empire Zoysia is our favorite.

Eric

Owner of Atlanta Sod Company

ken4255 – posted 12 August 2011 09:00

quote:Originally posted by Love_Zoysia:ken4255

I live in Marietta too and have 5000+ sq.feet of Jamur. I have been having some issues in my lawn – Poor Growth in newly sodded area as well as several bare spots in the existing lawn. I started organic last year with alfalfa and corn meal and had a beautiful lawn last season. But this year not sure why the grass is not growing in some areas. I have done soil test, but nothing seems to help. (PH is 6.7/6.9) Wondering if you can help me to identify the problem since you have Jamur. I live in east cobb area. Here are some pictures. Thanks

[This message has been edited by Love_Zoysia (edited 01 June 2011).][/B][/QUOTE]

Sorry, I just came across this post. I have a mix of Jamur and Meyer. I have a few areas where the turf has thinned out. I think it is due to the fact that it has to compete with the shallow roots of some maple trees. I have been thinking of removing a few trees to correct this. Unfortunately, I’m blocked from viewing your pictures.