New Lawn – SE Coastal GA

redbird – posted 02 April 2003 14:13

I have just built a home 15 miles inland in SE Coastal GA (20 miles North of Jacksonville, FL) I am looking to sod my lawn. Almost everyone in this area uses centipede (which tends to be coarse and allow weed invasion)or St. Augustine (which dies a lot here from various bugs – mole crickets, billbugs, chinch bugs – & fungi). I have a well and irrigation system installed. All areas of my lawn receive at least 4 – 6 hours of direct sunlight daily. The climate is hot & very humid. The soil is slightly acidic, black & sandy, holds a lot of moisture, but my lawn is well graded – no ponding.

I like a dense sod (I had common bermuda in TX and was satisfied ith it. I am considering Tifway 419 sod (but am afraid of the esxtremely low mowing heights which are recommended & excessive mowing frequency) and Emerald Zoysia sod (concerned about thatching). No one here uses zoysia sod – no reason given, evryone just uses centipede or St. Augustine.

I have a good supplier for either the Tifway 419 or Emerald Zoysia – any comments, suggestions, warnings, or advice before I take this huge plunge?

COLLEEN – posted 08 July 2004 09:03

I live in the same area and am looking into both of those types of sods also, who are you getting your sod from? I am currently pricing sod right now.

tommy – posted 10 July 2004 11:55

The reason people don’t use Zoysia more is because the sod is expensive! Its also slow to establish if started by seed or plugs. Zoysia and bermuda thatch are similar- but are not a problem if de-thatched once a year. 419 is the tallest growing hybrid bermuda….so don’t worry about trying to keep it short. I have seen it do well at normal- “homeowner style cutting heights”.