new empire zoysia lawn…questions

rainier – posted 12 October 2003 08:48

Just laid six pallets of empire zoysia two weeks ago. The first week was spent watering every day, the past week we were lucky enough to have light rain/showers everyday. The lawn is looking good with the patch work look almost gone. My questions…

When do I need to mow? My previous experience mowing experiences have been with buffalo, common bermuda and st augustine, so I’m not that experienced with mowing this type of zoysia. Also, how does one measure the height on ones mower(power) to keep the grass at the optimal height? Do you measure from bottom of the mower deck? or from the bottom of the actual blade?

Another question…when do I need to fertilize? Do I even need to since I recall someone on this board stating that sod comes from the farm loaded up on fertilizer. If I go the non-organic route, what is a good choice I can find at Lowe’s/Home Depot? Also, what’s a good choice if I do go the organic route.

I’m located just west of Austin, TX.Thanks for all the help!!

ted – posted 12 October 2003 13:36

it’s got to be mowed very low, maybe no more than one inch. it requires little fert. and watering and insect control, but it more than makes up for it in maintenance like dethatching. you might want to look into a winterizer type fertilizer now in your market like a 18-24-12 type fert. also probably some good info on the a & m website, and purdue has alot of info on zoysia on their website, just remember to adjust your dates for the purdue site, but the same principles hold true.

cboothe – posted 20 October 2003 18:42

I personally wouldn’t try to mow it so low until the roots set in real well. I’ve got mine (Empire Zoysia) somewhere between 2 and 2.5 inches and it seems to be pretty happy. I did my first mowing right at 1 month and had a few spots where the sod would be pulled up by the mower. As for the fertilizer, I believe the general consensus is you want to stick with something along the lines of a 10-10-10. I’m trying the organic approach and used corn meal at 20lb/1000 sq ft right around the 1 month mark (had some fungus setting in due to too much watering). Here are a couple pics of my freshly cut lawn at a little over 2 months old (a couple are comparison shots between my zoysia and the neighbor’s St. Augustine)….

http://www.thepcfix.com/grass/IM000049.JPGhttp://www.thepcfix.com/grass/IM000050.JPGhttp://www.thepcfix.com/grass/IM000051.JPGhttp://www.thepcfix.com/grass/IM000052.JPG

frenchman – posted 20 October 2003 22:08

Rainer, you want a fertilizer with alot of potassium right now to get the roots growing for the winter. Something like 10.15.20

ted – posted 21 October 2003 11:46

you definitely do not want to use a 10-10-10 fertilizer right now. your grass does not need nitrogen going into a cooler period of weather. go for the 18-24-12 or some similiar type of fertilizer.

Alex_in_FL (Lex) – posted 08 December 2003 17:22

Ted, your post lost me. A fertilizer rated 18-24-12 has more 80% more N, 140% more P, and 20% more K than 10-10-10.

Go with a fertilizer that has a higher last number (lots of potassium – K) to help roots.