Southwest Fla. Zoysia????
fishguts – posted 01 April 2009 07:36
I live in Southwest Florida. My backyard has alot of shade. Our soil is pretty sandy, even top soil is sandy. About half of the yard is irrigated, the other half I use a hose/ sprinkler when needed. My yard was planted with Argentinian Bahia. The grass became extremely sparse, I believe because of the shade. Then the bout of tropical storms last summer flooded the yard with about 4″ if water and that was the end of the Bahia. I have brought in more fill dirt and top soil to raise the yard above flood level. I need a turf grass that is low maintenace, shade tiolerant, and drought resistant. I don’t neccesarily want a “showcase” or golf course yard. I just need something to hold the dirt so the dogs don’t track it in the house, that will look halfway decent and keep the weeds choked out. THere are several types of Zoysia seed readily available in my area. I am leaning towards Empire. Any hints ,tips, or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
saltcedar – posted 01 April 2009 08:09
Watch out for nematodes in Florida’s sandy soils.Only select a turf with superior nematode resistance. It’s the only reason I don’t whole heartedly recommend Zoysia in Florida.
Alex_in_FL – posted 17 April 2009 20:55
nematodes are tough on paspalum, bermuda and zoysia. Chinch bugs reek havoc on St Augustine. In other words, every grass has its problem.
Floratam will spread fast and do “okay” in shade but prefers sun. Zoysia is nice and I really like the Empire variety. However, neither Floratam or Empire are available as seed.
turfgrrl – posted 07 May 2009 17:11
In Southwest Florida, you’ve got use use sod. Shade is tough if it’s deep shade. There is a St. Augustine called DeltaShade that has some shade resistance. UltimateFlora Zoysia is also an option. The University of FL developed it. Here’s a link for some info on maintenance of zoysia: http://www.environmentalturf.com/images/maintenance/UltimateSpecs_Maint.pdf
I almost forgot Do Not over water. Floratan /Seville all strains of St. Augustine are suseptible to fungus from over…
I am from the north and it has taken me five yrs to learn and undertand seville lawns. No 1…
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