Seeding zenith zoysia

rookie – posted 06 March 2004 07:02

I have always wanted zoysia grass but not on a budget to sod. Was wondering if it is at all possible to over seed with the new zenith zoysia with a current fescue and K-bluegrass yard. From what I have gathered the only options is to kill all the fescue/kblue and then start with zoysia. Any feedback and help appreciated. Rookie

ted – posted 06 March 2004 20:15

no it won’t work. zoysia seed not fully developed yet. zoysia is very slow growing.

tommy – posted 06 March 2004 21:21

Wait till June, at that time spray the exsisting grass with ’roundup’. A week later cut the dying grass short, aerify in two directions and seed the zoysia. Next you will run a rotory mower over the area (without a catcher) to break up the aerification cores. You can also apply a starter fertilizer at this time. Water as needed depending on the weather.

AmateurNGa – posted 01 April 2005 16:27

Rookie, I am by no means a professional and will offer up some advice. I used Zenith April of 2004. I did a lot of research on forums like this for information on how best to succeed in getting good growth and coverage.

I killed my entire lawn last year with roundup and then mowed at the lowest setting to clear as much dead grass as possible two weeks later. I then tilled, fertilized and limed as necessary. (I did this myself and with a front tine tiller, this added probably a month and a half to the project I didn’t anticipate. If you don’t need to till, don’t.) I then seeded with Zenith Zoysia. I watered as recommended which was three waterings a day for about half hour to keep the ground moist. The key is to make sure the ground stays moist the first 10-15 days. Once seedlings started to appear I cut back to twice a day for 45 minutes-1 hour waterings in the morning and early evening. This apparently promoted deeper root growth. After about a month and a half, I had very good coverage and could cut the waterings back to once a day for 45 minutes. It is now April 2005 and my lawn is about 70% green and looking great.

Some lessons I learned:If you are on an incline, definitely cover with non-seeded seed mats. I used them on spots I thought were appropriate and they worked great. However, with the rains here in Georgia last summer, spots I did not initially think needed the mats were much thinner because the seed washed away.

DON’T seed Zenith if you used a pre-emergent. It not only prevents crabgrass growth, but also prevents grass seed growth. I personally didn’t make this mistake, but it is important to point out.

You are going to get a good bit of weeds. Don’t worry. Spray with a weed killer only after the grass has established itself and you’ve mowed a couple times. The next year you can use a pre-emergent which will help your problem and then a weed killer. The zoysia will fill in the spots left from the prior season’s weeds.

That is all I have to offer really. My main problem this year are some areas where water runoff washed away the seed (small areas) and some Poe Annua (looks like fescue) infiltration, but the established grass is filling in the bare spots and I’ve found a Poe Annua killer finally at HD. So hopefully in a month or so, I’ll have an entirely filled in lawn. Good luck!!!

rwhi – posted 02 April 2005 12:36

I have what appears to be a different weed than Poe Annua. It is a clumpy dark green variety with little light green seed pods. I sprayed with a lawn weed killer a week ago but it seems to be multiplying. It is early April and my Meyer Zoysia is greening up. Anybody know about this?

cubguy – posted 06 April 2005 16:35

sounds like poa to me. ted?

vharper – posted 03 May 2005 15:01

Can anyone recommend a company to buy zoysia seed from? Ive read several posts of poeple having bad luck with seed and plugs.Thanks for the info.I live in cetnral arkansas.