My first mowing of the Zoysia: How short?
Brown Bear – posted 02 August 2007 22:40
Hello Everyone,
I laid my Zorro Zoysia 3-1/2 weeks ago, and want to mow it for the first time this weekend. The grass ranges from about 3″ to 5″ inches so far. It’s been raining a lot here in Central Texas and the grass really took off. I’ve got a rotary mower and am going to sharpen the blade really well. How short should I go? Any advice is welcomed.
Thanks,Jack
TexanOne – posted 03 August 2007 16:27
Dont cut Zoysia any shorter 3 in Texas or you will kill it. I learned this the hard way after I cut my Zenith Zoysia for several years at the recommended cutting height of 1 ½. The 1 ½ cutting height during the hot months of July and August stressed the Zoysia to the point of death. You may get by at a 2 cutting height in shade or under a large tree, but generally speaking, try not to go below 3.
It is ok to scalp the Zoysia in late winter to removed the extensive dead thatch and material that will build up over the previous year, but after that, raise the height to a minimum of 3 (no higher than 4 ½) and keep it there.
Zoysia does not like the normally hot and dry West and Central Texas summers no matter what you may read. Zoysia needs all the help it can to get by during the summers here so mow it high!
Brown Bear – posted 03 August 2007 17:04
Hi Texan One,
Wow, thanks for the information. I was going to cut the grass this Sunday and I was guessing 2″ would have been sufficient, but your thoughts make more sense. As you know, it’s getting up into the low 90s in the Central Region and it looks like it’s going to be dry for awhile. I’ll cut it to a 3″ height as you recommend. I don’t want to stress the grass out, for sure. By the way, the Zorro variety is, so far, fantastic. We’ll see how it holds up to the Summer heat.
Thanks again,Jack
dehrle – posted 08 August 2007 11:00
I don’t know about Zorro. I have Palisades (Houston) and am cutting it at 1 1/2″ (TAMU recommended height). It is doing very well at that height where the ground is smooth (well leveled),. But where the ground is uneven places get scalped. One scalping and the grass recovers, 2nd time and no grass.
Weed whipping (edging with weed whipper) seems to do the most damage.
Bottom line is the yard needs to be leveled or some places may get scalped.
Jon – posted 02 September 2007 13:56
Where did you get the zoysia from?
Thanks,Jon
Brown Bear – posted 02 September 2007 14:31
Hi Jon,
Here in Austin, TX, I got my grass at Turffgrass America: http://turfgrassamerica.com/Home.aspx?PageID=Home I bought three pallets of Zorro from them and they promptly delivered them 3 days later after placing the order. Originally I had ordered the “Emerald” variety of Zoysia, but they could never get it. A lot of people waited. I switched to my 2nd choice which was the “Zorro” and, honestly, I cannot tell the difference. You’d have to be a botanist to tell any difference.
My Zorro was laid down (by myself — two days and, oh, my back!) on July 8-9 and has established extremely well. Luckily two days later we were hit with hard rains for almost 3 weeks in duration. I think this really helped the grass to establish faster. I’ve got two huge oak trees in the yard and so it’s partially shaded. I can see no difference in the way it’s growing from the spots that get full all-day sun versus the partial shaded areas. It’s thick and dark green all over.
I put a 3′ foot wide X 50′ foot bed with Texas native plants between my yard and our neighbors to keep his St. Augustine from mixing in my yard. He has to mow his yard every 4 or 5 days I’ve mowed mine twice since I’ve planted. I can see it can easily go once a week between mowings. In fact, it’s actually pretty when it’s a bit long — over 3″ in length. When compared to my neighbors yard, the Zoysia is a rich green compared to his yellowish-green.
This post is getting long. Sorry about that. You simply asked where I got the grass, if I recall. I’m just proud of the grass and how it turned out. It was my first experience laying sod and using Zoysia. I’ll never go back to another grass.
Good luck,Jack
Jon – posted 02 September 2007 15:58
Thanks for the quick reply Jack.
I’m in Austin too so that’s why I was so curious.
I grew up in IL and we had zoysia in our backyard and it was great. My wife and I are purchasing a house along 45/mopac (stones throw away from camp mabry). Right now the backyard is overrun with bamboo but I plan on cutting it all down and that will give me a completely clean palate to work with. We’ve got a few oaks trees that may provide too much shade is my only concern.
Right now I’ve been trying to do research on the different types. That link you posted is very informative. It looks like zorro is the way to go!
We don’t close on the house for another 3 weeks. By the time I get the bamboo out, I imagine it will be too late to plant the sod and will have to wait until next year?
Do you mind telling me where you live so I can come by and check it out?
Thanks so much,Jon
Brown Bear – posted 02 September 2007 16:15
Hi Jon,
Just send me your private e-mail address not connected to the forum, and I’d be happy to send you my home address. I’m in way South Austin (Manchaca Rd./Slaughter). I know exactly the area you’re talking about moving to. There’s a cool little bakery/coffee shop called Russells on Hancock and Balcones that I go to sometimes.
Have a good one,Jack (
ja***********@ho*****.com
)
Jon – posted 03 September 2007 11:41
I sent you an email yesterday. If you didn’t receive it, it may be in your spam folder?
Thanks,Jon
maquina – posted 04 September 2007 11:30
Hi Guys,
I also live here in Austin well actually Kyle and I am about to install my Zoysia grass. My final two choices were Jamur and Zeon. Originally I wanted Emerald but talking to a vendor it seems its now been replaced by Zeon which is also a thin blade grass like Emerald but better in that it doesn’t produce as much thacht and spreads faster compared to emerald. Jamur I believe is like Zorro in that it has a medium blade. Anyways I am getting my grass from a guy from New Braunfals since it was cheaper compared to all the places I called here in Austin.
rja28912 – posted 11 September 2007 20:44
Hi all – I live in Raleigh, North Carolina, and just put down 4000 sq ft of Zorro Zoysia. It looks great and I have mowed it twice in a month, but only with the rotary mower set very high (4″). My question is this: The producers (Oakland Plantation) recommend a mowing height of 1/4″ to 2 1/2″, which is significantly different than what the folks in Texas are talking about in this thread…does anyone think the mowing height would be different for Zorro in NC vs Texas? Thanks!
Brown Bear – posted 11 September 2007 21:16
Hello,As and experiment last week, I set my mower height to 2″ and mowed a strip of grass about 20′ feet in length, then reset the mowing height to 3″ and finished the yard. The 2″ height is too short in my opinion. The grass looked a little thin and not lush like with the 3″ setting. It’s hot in Texas and I feel the grass stays a little cooler with the longer blades. There’s less stress, I suppose, with more blade exposed to the light. I’ve read too that you can go down to 1/2″ but there’s no way the grass will look okay. It’s not a dwarf/short variety. That’s just my opinion…
Good luck,Jack
saltcedar – posted 12 September 2007 06:41
In addition to the above Coarse Zoysia’s shouldalways be cut longer than fine bladed Zoysias.
HTH
hkeyser – posted 17 September 2007 15:27
quote:Originally posted by rja28912:Hi all – I live in Raleigh, North Carolina, and just put down 4000 sq ft of Zorro Zoysia. It looks great and I have mowed it twice in a month, but only with the rotary mower set very high (4″). My question is this: The producers (Oakland Plantation) recommend a mowing height of 1/4″ to 2 1/2″, which is significantly different than what the folks in Texas are talking about in this thread…does anyone think the mowing height would be different for Zorro in NC vs Texas? Thanks!
Yes. TX is much hotter than Raleigh. On average Raleigh has approx thirty seven 90 degree days and Dallas has approx 98 such days and twenty 100 degree days while Raleigh averages less than one per summer. Also, we get more rain. Even in July the average high is 88 degrees where Dallas is 97/98 degrees. This August was an exception but that happens some years.
I almost forgot Do Not over water. Floratan /Seville all strains of St. Augustine are suseptible to fungus from over…
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