Palisades Zoysia – too much rain

dehrle – posted 01 July 2007 16:53

I live in Houston and it has been raining every day for the past two weeks. Palisades has been down < 2 months and was doing very well. With the rain it shots up to 6″ in one week from 2″ and appears to be thinning in some spots. Even with good drainage there are now a few spots that have turned to mud (esp. where dogs and/or construction workers had walked). These areas are 70 to 90% mud with white long roots showing (from the grass). Should I replace the sod in these areas or wait? The grass has started to spread only in a very few areas. When can I expect it to spread. Will the Palisades ever get thick enough to handle saturated soil conditions?

Total affected area is < 5% but it is in the back yard and I do not wanting to keep the dogs off the yard. Suggestions?

dehrle – posted 18 July 2007 10:49

Still raining hard almost every day in Houston (a few days off – 1 wk ago). Grass is thinning (many areas of only a blade or two per sq inch), not dieing in sections like the Bermuda across the street. Even with good drainage the soil has been saturated for 6+ weeks now and the Palisades is getting thinner, some areas of mud with only a few blades. 2 1/2 months ago the grass was installed and after a month it was very thick, now … Is there anything I can do (don’t want to replace the grass)?

TexanOne – posted 21 July 2007 02:33

Although it is possible your Zoysia may be waterlogged and temporarily dying out, I tend to believe there is another issue going on. The reason I say this is because Zoysia is native to regions of Asia that get as much, or more rainfall than you are getting in Houston right now.

Perhaps your soil is clay-textured, water saturated, and the roots are rotting and dying. It is almost impossible to say for sure without a core sample and physical examination of the turf. Hope ya’ll get a break and dry out a little real soon…

dehrle – posted 25 July 2007 12:14

We are drying out – finally. The grass was thinning and easily coming out by the roots. I put F-Stop out a week before the rain stopped and the situation improved slightly (loss stopped and a few new shoots appeared).