St. Aug or Zoysia?

Mark S – posted 03 July 2010 08:57

I live in Paulding County, Ga where my 1/2 acre lot is dominated by Yellow Poplar. It is very shaded. I am debating installing either Palmetto St. Augustine or Emerald Zoysia for its heat, drought, and shade tolerance. My neighbor has a strip of Bermuda on the far side of my lawn which my sod will butt up against. I also have three mature Bradford pear trees that produce a lot of shade (nothing grows under them) but will be removed in the next year by me or an act of God, so that side of my property will receive full sun. That sod will run straight into my other neighbors full front lawn – where I think he has fescue. I am interested in your opinions on the two types of grass. Thanks!

jb1020 – posted 06 July 2010 08:01

If you like cutting grass go with the st. aug. From what I can tell most people here prefer zoysia. Softer to the touch and requires much less cutting. Those are the main reasons I picked zoysia over st. aug.

ken4255 – posted 06 July 2010 11:06

I tried a little experiment once to see what grass I could get to grow under some oak trees in my front yard (Marietta). I bought one square of St. Augustine (not sure what kind), and one square of Emerald. The emerald died out quickly, while the St. Augustine did pretty well in this deep shade. Eventually, though, I decided that the St. Augustine looked too coarse for me, and I went with pine straw and shrubs.