shipping Zoysia

mainverte – posted 24 August 2007 11:18

I am interested in purchasing zoysia seeds for my lawn, but that product is only available in very expensive plugs in Europe.

Zoysia is a good herb looking like apple-green moss nearly yellow and living in hard conditions in summer, it doesn’t drink much, grows very slowly (no need to mow if trampled on :-)) and I have even seen some growing along beaches onto fine sand in the city where I live (Marseilles in France).As I am often absent for long periods that is very ideal for a lawn.There are many dealers trading Zoysia seeds on the web in The States unfortunately they usually don’t worldwide ship.My question: Could anybody make follows an order for me towards France?thank you for your help :-)))

TexanOne – posted 25 August 2007 03:07

Try EBay. There are several suppliers that ship worldwide:

http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&_trksid=m37&satitle=zoysia+seed&category0=

mainverte – posted 25 August 2007 09:56

Many thanks for your reply TexanOne, I gonna try eBay…

TexanOne – posted 25 August 2007 15:49

Mainverte,

I would like to give you some helpful tips about Zoysia seeds:

1: buy enough seed to do the job right. I would suggest you seed at a rate of about 2 lbs seed / 1000 ft2 (or about 1 Kg / 100 m2 in metrics) minimum.

2: soak the seeds about 12 to 24 hours in water before planting.

3: make sure ALL grasses and weeds are removed from the planting area before you plant – seed Zoysia does not compete well against other grasses during establishment, so this step is very important!

4: Keep the seedbed moist (not wet) for several weeks until the seedlings begin to produce stolons. This may mean that you have to do several irrigation cycles per day in warm weather.

Please let us know how Zoysia does in southern France!

mainverte – posted 26 August 2007 05:20

Thank you very much for these precious informations TexanOne.

I wondered if Zoysia seeds were planted like common turf. That’s not the case, as I can read.Anyway, I can tell you Zoysia does well in southern France. All the tramways floors have been filled with it in Marseilles and it looks very stylish!But Zoysia is set by cuttings in Europe and plugs are very expensive (about 1.5 USD per plug and you need not less than 800 plugs / 1000 sq.ft if you want to have a nice lawn the next year !)Seeds are cheap compare to it but I don’t really know what will come of it.

Please TexanOne, do you know what is the best period for sowing? and how long does it takes?Here the average daily temperature is about 25°C (75°F) in September and it doesn’t drop under 16°C (60°F)during the night. Days are sunny and it is seldom raining until november. But after it’s often windy and temperature collapse quicky in that case. Winter is rather sweet because of the proximity of the sea, except when windy. By the end of March nice days are coming back. That the reason why I guess Zoysia keeps its soft green color all the year long.

Of course, I let you know how my Zoysia does, as soon I receive it 🙂

TexanOne – posted 26 August 2007 13:38

Zoysia needs warm weather for the seeds to geminate and begin growing. I did a Yahoo Weather search for Marseille for temperature averages, and it looks like months of May or June would be the earliest I would attempt to plant the seeds. It also appears the months of May and June are the driest – which is what you want.

Zoysia is very slow to sprout, grow, and fill-in as a turf. Zoysia is probably the slowest turfgrass there is, even with the best of care. It takes months for a seeded Zoysia lawn to get thick enough to resist being washed away by erosion and to survive hot weather without daily watering. The more seeds you can plant, the better. The recommended 2 lbs / 1000 ft2 is a minimum seeding rate – you may want to consider planting more. Adding nitrogen fertilizers do not speed up growth either – it is just naturally very slow.

To answer your question about planting now, or in the next few days / weeks: it appears that the rainy season in Marseille is about to begin and last most of the winter. The biggest risk of planting now for you is not cooler temperatures, but erosion from heavy rainfall. It would probably be alright to plant now if you have a very flat and level yard with little risk of runoff, or if you use a biodegradable erosion mat. Zoysia seeds wash away very easily in heavy rainfall! Once the seedlings are about 1 or 2 inches in height, there is little chance of the seedlings washing away, but the trick is preventing a washout until the seedlings are that tall.

Also keep in mind Zoysia spreads very slowly, so if you do have bare spots where the seedlings did not grow, it will take months or years for the Zoysia to cover. I highly encourage you to invest in some strategy to prevent the seedbed from eroding, even if it costs a little more to do. This important step will save you much grief in the future. Keep in touch!

mainverte – posted 27 August 2007 09:41

Thanks again TexanOne. As I can read, it takes a lot of care.I am going to listen to your advices. The best thing I have to do is to wait for the next spring. That leaves me an extra time to find good seeds!As you know a lot about Zoysia, could you tell me what would be the best kind of seeds for me. I saw there were many varieties on eBay and the common one is Zoysia Zenith. What do you think about?

TexanOne – posted 27 August 2007 12:15

The only experience I have with seeded Zoysia is the Zenith variety. I planted 4,000 ft2 of Zenith in April 1999 at a rate of 1 – 2 lbs / 1,000ft2. Several spring time thunderstorms washed some of the seed away before it could germinate and I had about 80% coverage by June or July 1999.

Today, there is only about 400 – 500 ft2 of Zenith remaining and most of my yard is covered in Texas Common St Augustine that crept in from neighboring yards. Most of the Zenith I had just died out from very hot summer temperatures even though it received plenty of water. The places in my yard where the Zenith is still growing are in afternoon shade. The afternoon full-sun areas died out quickly within a year or two.

Zenith may be perfect in your Mediterranean climate, but it does not seem to survive well in the extreme heat of Texas or with being irrigated with alkaline water. Some Zoysia seed producers claim Compadre or Companion seeded Zoysia are better adapted to hotter climates. The best Zoysia I have used are El Toro and Palisades, but these are not available as seeded varieties.

http://www.zoysias.com/info/companion.html

Compadre and Zenith Zoysia are both available on Ebay. Compadre looks a little more course in texture than Zenith. Zenith leaf width is about 2mm – 3mm in my yard. Compadre looks like it is about 4mm – 5mm width.

You might want to consider a mix of 50% / 50% Zenith and Compadre. Again, seed heavily and find a way to stop erosion. Once the seedlings are up and growing, cut it tall – about 2” to 3”. Eventually, the Zoysia will produce stolons and rhizomes and will produce a thick sod that will resist weeds or invasion of other grasses. Yes, Zoysia takes a lot of care to get going, but the results are worth the effort. Hope this helps!

lennyk – posted 27 August 2007 14:54

I live in the Caribbean and I seeded Zenith Zoysia during the rainy season and suffered the same erosion problems which TexanOne is talking about.

It really better to seed when you are reasonably sure you wont get any rainfall for a couple weeks while they germinate and maybe no heavy rainfall for the next couple weeks whilst they take root.

This grass is fine for me since it does not grow very fast and has better shade tolerance than others.

Its also best to not cut too short as he indicated as the grass has better vigor when a little longer.

I have pics of my lawn herehttp://20.fotopic.net/c1120943.html

seed – posted 27 August 2007 21:01

Very nice progression. Thank you, lennyk, for sharing the photos.

Phil

mainverte – posted 28 August 2007 08:43

Thanks for all these informations.Everybody agrees that Zoysia is tender to the rainfalls and the wind when growing. I wonder if Zoysia tolerates growth covers (of climatex type), which could improve the warmth and moist ratio needed, as TexanOne has mentioned. Has someone tried?

turfman1 – posted 22 December 2007 03:15

Hi Texanone

I have Tiffdwarf here in the Caribbean and it is being invaded by Zoysia matrella, Cavalier. We are currently handweeding it out, however this is quite destructive and unsightly. Do you think an aggressive verti-cutting program would weaken the Cavalier over time and in turn encourage the Tiffdwarf? Interested to hear your thoughts and suggestions.

Regardsturfman1