Kentucky Bluegrass or Emerald Zoysia?

GXL – posted 05 July 2004 14:25

Hello everybody:

I’m new to this forum…

I live in Cary, NC (next to Raleigh) and I’m looking to upgrade my current turf.

I currently have Turf-Type Tall Fescue (Palmer’s Pride) 90% of the lawn is turf-type, the rest is K-31 that survived the “shock and Awe” of Round up last fall…

Anyway, my lawn looks terrible right now because of the nasty heat and lack of rain

I’ve been talking to people and reading about Zoysia and Bluegrasses for a while, and can’t decide which way to go…

In this part of NC, both, warm and cool season grasses can be grown (as you know?) so I’m torn between these two.

I love the looks of KB during Spring, Fall, and even Winter; but Summer is always harsh on cool season grasses – especially here in this part of the state.

Emerald and Zeon Zoysia seem to be the closest in looks to the K Bluegrass, but will it survive our winters here? And how long will they stay brown?

These are the characteristics I like about a lawn:

Fine BladedDark GreenDense TurfHeat and Drought TolerantGreen year-round

Sounds good ah? I know, that’s probably what everybody wants…

Your feedback will be appreciated.

e – posted 07 July 2004 18:42

I live in Apex, NC and have had Emerald Zoysia for one year. I made the transition from Fescue to Emerald Zoysia in late July 2003. A couple of thoughts. 1) You need to use Emerald sod, it is very slow growing and plugs will take forever. I purchased the sod from a place in Newton Grove.2) The grass turns brown brown in mid Nov. and greens up again in maybe late April but does not develop full color until sometime in May3) Emerald loves the heat, the more heat the better!4) You need to bag the grass and cut about every 10 days or so, use sharp rotary mower or reel mower. I have a rotary mower (like you would use on fescue, keep lawn tractors away! The grass needs to be cut every 10 days or so and you can’t let it grow long.5)It’s about the best looking grass I’ve ever seen, like a carpet. 6) I now look forward to HOT weather, as opposed to dreading my fescue dying. 7) If your a grass enthusiast and don’t mind putting a little time into your lawn it doesn’t get any better than Emerald. 8) I have about 7K sq. ft. of grass

If you have more questions, e-mail me at st*********@va*******.com I’m on vacation until July 12.

GXL – posted 20 July 2004 23:39

Good to hear from somebody in Apex! My wife and I know Apex very well, my children go to school at A.V. Baucom Elementary.

Anyway, I really appreciate your feedback on this.

I’ve decided to go with Emerald Zoysia for my sunny front lawn, and K-Blue (Galaxy blend from Turf-Seed in Oregon) for the backyard (lots of shade during the summer) That way I will always have a green lawn to go to anytime of the year – always green!

I lived in Florida for many years, and our lawn was always green… Never paid any attention to the turf quality until I moved up here 3 years ago. I used to have S. Augustine, the only grass South Florida uses. Its leaves are very broad (may I say ugly?) grows very quickly during the hot summer months and requires lots of water.

I have sodded part of my front lawn with Emerald Zoysia which I purchased from Super Sod in Raleigh (Farmers Market) have you heard of them? They sell sod to Home Depot.

So far so good, but the problem I’m having now is that some areas look a bit dry and I think is because I added started fertilizer prior to the installation of the sod. I’ve been watering it everyday, twice a day – I can’t wait to mow it!

We should get together one of these days, I’d love to see your lawn.

Here’s my email:

xl****@ms*.com

Ph. 919-481-3375

Take care,

Xavier

GXL – posted 21 July 2004 00:22

Check this out:

[img]http://www.lawnplugs.com/images/s-lawnplugs/emerald-zoy1.jpg[/img]

Alex_in_FL – posted 24 July 2004 21:12

Suggest you reduce watering to once per day and deep water it. Also, if you want a green front lawn you can seed with rye grass. It will die out in the summer heat.

I love my Empress zoysia…too bad I am moving in 3 weeks. May try Empire next time even if it does have a wide blade like chinchbug bait St Augustine.

Cary, NC – posted 27 July 2004 01:59

I was told NOT to over seed Emerald Zoysia with Cool season grasses – it is true?

Steve in Apex – posted 03 August 2004 19:45

Xavier,

I’ll try to contact you and you can see my lawn in Apex and I can give you some tips. My Emerald Zoysia is very nice! I’ll be on vacation until Aug. 9th. I’ll e-mail you soon.

Steve