New Empire lawn in SW Fla.

Carlincool – posted 18 October 2011 06:17

Hi,After 30 years of different types of St Augustine, I decided to take the plunge. I put down 10 pallets of empire. I did have a few runners of St. Augustine that would not die off and even after putting down insecticide granules twice this year had about 50-70 large white grub worms I removed while raking. It has been raining a light steady rain for 2 days now from a tropical depression. Being I am the first in our area to have Empire, so I am really wanting this to be successful. I know I put this down late in the year, but any pointers would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks!!Zone 9b

Carlincool – posted 18 October 2011 07:09

Forgot to ask, at what temp. does Empire go brown and dormant?

jugheadfla – posted 18 October 2011 08:14

quote:Originally posted by Carlincool:Forgot to ask, at what temp. does Empire go brown and dormant?

I don’t think there is a specific temp for it to go dormant but I would venture to say that when the first cold front comes though, like this week I believe, it will begin to go dormant. I sodded my yard with Jamur around the same time last year and for the most part it was able to root before it got really cold. The one good thing about Zoysia is that regardless of what it looks like when it goes dormant, in the spring it will come back looking beautiful unlike St Aug. I believe there are already parts of my lawn starting to go dormant so I would say in about 3 to 4 weeks it might go full into dormancy if there are any freezes that come through. I would say just keep doing what your doing and let it go dormant and then relax until spring.

jod788 – posted 18 October 2011 08:34

My Palisades is going dormant already and it hasn’t been cold here really. We’ve had plenty of 50 degree nights I guess. Seems to be going dormant sooner than all the Bermuda in the neighborhood, but I will say that my Zoysia (at least last year) was greening up sooner than all of the Bermuda in spring. Maybe Zoysia is just on a slightly different “schedule” than some other grasses.

Carlincool – posted 18 October 2011 10:03

In our climate, my St Augustine would only need mowing every 4-6 weeks in the winter, but would always be green. I hope my Empire doesn’t turn brown. Some winters we never get below 40. Last winter we had a few hours a couple of mornings near freezing that slightly turn it brown but in 1 week it was green again.

jugheadfla – posted 18 October 2011 13:31

quote:Originally posted by Carlincool:In our climate, my St Augustine would only need mowing every 4-6 weeks in the winter, but would always be green. I hope my Empire doesn’t turn brown. Some winters we never get below 40. Last winter we had a few hours a couple of mornings near freezing that slightly turn it brown but in 1 week it was green again.

Trust me, even in Florida the Zoysia will go dormant and turn brown, basically hay. But, of course it does this on purpose so that it will keep itself alive once spring rolls around. It doesn’t really bother me all that much and I don’t even remember mowing my lawn at all last winter. It literally will not grow at all during that time.

Carlincool – posted 08 November 2011 06:43

Well, it’s still dark green!! I fertilized it over the weekend to help it root better before winter. It will be interesting to see if it does turn brown down here in SW Fl.

jugheadfla – posted 08 November 2011 07:52

quote:Originally posted by Carlincool:Well, it’s still dark green!! I fertilized it over the weekend to help it root better before winter. It will be interesting to see if it does turn brown down here in SW Fl.

That is because we haven’t gotten the seasons first cold blast yet here in Florida. Once that happens, possibly by the end of this week, it will start its metamorphosis. Yes, even down in SW Florida. I’m in Tampa and it will happen here as well. Mine is still about 85% green as well.

mrmumbels – posted 08 November 2011 20:55

I’m north of Tampa and it doesn’t go dormant until the frosts come in. It will definately slow down and get a little brown earlier but the true golden color comes after frosts. If it’s really really thick then a few pieces will survive the frosts.

Come spring drop a bunch of alfalfa pellets down and you’ll be amazed at how dark green it gets.

Don’t worry about the stray St Augustine runners, they’ll either suffocate from the dense zoysia or you can easily kill them with weed killer.

As far as I know, either my lawn is too thick or I have no grub worms because in the last 6 years I have never seen a single bird eating on my lawn. They do hang out at all my neighbors.

Water only when it needs it (the blades curl up)

Do not bag your clippings!!!!

Zoysia is super drought tolerant, but what they don’t tell you is that it’s drought tolerant because it curls up when it’s thirsty. Curled up grass looks aweful and dead. You want to keep as much organic material in the soil as possible to hold moisture.

Don’t worry about thatch, the FL rain should take care of this and if it doesn’t then a good core aeration will cut it up for you and hopefully drop it into the soil.

Pick your grass height in the spring and only let it get longer. Never cut it shorter!! Empire if you look real close will grow like little trees with stems on the bottom and green blades on top. If you go from 3 inches to 2 inches it’s like cutting the top of a tree off and it’s hurts the grass pretty badly and takes months to bring back.

There’s a guy on here that scalped his lawn pretty badly with a reel mower and I only believe it came back because it had not yet grown these stems. It’s very strange…

Carlincool – posted 11 January 2012 06:27

Thanks for all the advice. This is definitely a learning experience. Well here it is Jan. and my empires dark green and lush. We got down to 35 last week and it has no effect on it. So far, Ive been very pleased with it. I plan on adding some cow manure very slowly and watering it in to help it retain water a little bit. I’ll be glad when it starts growing a little more. I plan on fertilizing it in the beginning of March to green it up. I can’t tell you how many people ask me “What kind of grass is that?”. Most everyone has never heard of it.

luisc – posted 23 April 2012 22:06

hi,

I am in Wesley Chapel and resodded with Empire Zoysia and am wondering when do I fertilizze. My sod is 2 weeks old today and it is growing fast.

Carlincool – posted 30 April 2012 06:18

Luisc, I would try some Alfalfa pellet as everyone suggest. Empire loves organic soils. I have also been adding good topsoil and cow manure to the soil to help. (add slowly) I also put down some milky spore to stop grub worms and beneficial Nemetodes to the soil. Good luck…

luisc – posted 30 April 2012 20:10

quote:Originally posted by Carlincool:Luisc, I would try some Alfalfa pellet as everyone suggest. Empire loves organic soils. I have also been adding good topsoil and cow manure to the soil to help. (add slowly) I also put down some milky spore to stop grub worms and beneficial Nemetodes to the soil. Good luck…

Can you tell me what organic soil to use? I see what alfalfa pellets are now thanks.

luisc – posted 26 July 2012 13:59

hi,

I am in Wesley Chapel and resodded with Empire Zoysia and am wondering when do I fertilizze. My sod is 2 weeks old today and it is growing fast.

mrmumbels – posted 26 July 2012 17:53

If you’re doing alfalfa then fertilize whenever you want. If you’re doing chemicals do a 10-10-10 on the 4 major holidays.