Mixing Zoysia with Bermuda

Hawk – posted 28 June 2010 11:32

I’m a newbie, new house owner. So be gentle.

Home in Atlanta. Current lawn (5000+ sq. ft) has Bermuda but it is not growing well due to high shade in the back yard. Back yard gets a maximum of 3-4 hours of direct sunlight and it is not enough for the grass to grow – have only patches of grass in the backyard.

Is Zoysia a good option for my location & high shade condition? What would be the best way to install Zoysia, plug or seed?

Thanks in advance.

green in atlanta – posted 28 June 2010 14:20

generally speaking, zoysia plugs will never be able to compete with bermuda as bermuda is faster and more aggressive growing. Also, zoysia loves the sun. “shade tolerance” is often misinterpreted to mean “shade loving”. If your conditions are so shady that the bermuda is not thriving, then chances are zoysia would perform nearly the same way. I recommend investing in mulch or pine straw — not sod, and definitely not plugs — if your yard is that shady. If you have some areas with 5 hours or more of full sun, zoysia sod should do well. I don’t recommend plugs or seed at all.

[This message has been edited by green in atlanta (edited 28 June 2010).]

mrmumbels – posted 04 July 2010 06:50

I’ve got empire zoysia growing under all my oaks here in Tampa. It’s actually the better part of my lawn since the stuff in full sun can’t hack it becuase the root system sucks.

It’s def not as thick as it should be but unless you’re standing directly on top of it you can’t tell that it’s kind of thin.

If there’s any traffic in the shaded areas it’ll take up to 2 years for the zoysia to come back.