Starting new Empire Zoysia Lawn

Dixie – posted 26 February 2009 11:24

Today is February 26, 2009. I have contracted with a local landscape company to install an entirely new Empire Zoysia sod lawn in the Raleigh, NC area in late May of this year. Will have existing lawn and weeds sprayed and killed, old compost put down, tilled, install an automatic underground irrigation system and finally lay new sod. This is a huge operation and an expensive one. Does anyone out there have any advise or recommendations on this subject. I hope I am doing the right thing. I have always wanted a nice lawn but don’t want to create any new problems for myself. I would hate to invest all this money and end up with a new Empire Zoysia sod lawn that is dying from some disease, bugs or mis-management on my part, etc. Any recommendations would be helpful.

saltcedar – posted 01 March 2009 05:47

Dixie,

I’ve read enough and had enough bad experiencesmyself with Empire that I’d suggest a different varietyof Zoysia. The tried and true one in the South and Southwestern US is El Toro. It’s not perfect but comes as close as any I’ve tried… If you don’t overwater or over feed it it’s low maintenance. IE scalp it in Springfeed no more than ONCE a year with an Organicfertilizer and mow weekly and water every otherweek in the absence of rain. Watering more oftenfor establishing the sod is required the first Summer of course.There are other low input Zoysia’s though theymay not be available in your area. HTHhttp://www.ironoakturf.com/palisades.html

[This message has been edited by saltcedar (edited 01 March 2009).]

Dixie – posted 02 March 2009 15:05

Thanks,

I will now investigate El Toro. I was pretty much sold on Empire, but you may have changed my mind. Do you have any specific stories about empire you can share?

Dixie

saltcedar – posted 16 March 2009 15:35

No stories I can link to however my own experienceshows it thins out without adequate rain/irrigation.More prone to insect attacks and very slow to recover from injuries. Not nearly as shade tolerant as El Toro either.YMMV

[This message has been edited by saltcedar (edited 16 March 2009).]

Alex_in_FL – posted 21 March 2009 08:56

Don’t be afraid of Empire Zoysia. I put some down in my back yard last year (homemade plugs). So far I am impressed with it. I had Empress zoysia in my other yard but I definitely like Empire Zoysia.

The key to zoysia is to watch for billbugs and don’t over fertilize it.

My only concern about your first post is the putting down of old compost. Make sure they til it into the soil and not just place it on top. Otherwise you may not get deep rooting.

Best of luck to you.

Alex

katighan – posted 24 March 2009 07:58

I am thinking of getting the zoysia plugs. I live in Montana and have the hard clay as soil. Have been fighting to get a good lawn for 8 years now. Will this work? Do we get to cold? it says its ok for -30 to high temps. Anyone know??

Dixie – posted 24 March 2009 08:48

I believe a better grass for your area would be a blend of Kentucky Bluegrass. It is a cool season grass. Any zoysia grass in my opinion (warm season grass) would be dormant for most of the year. The ground temperature would have to be 70 degrees or more for the grass to green up. I am no expert by any means and would welcome any other opinions. I am from North Carolina.Hope this helps.

kwdaye – posted 30 March 2009 18:01

saltcedar

Can you tell me where you got the el toro, or would you be interested in sell some plugs of what you got. I been looking everywhere to find some. I live in Cincinnati, OH.

Or if anyone out there would like to sell some plugs of El toro PLEASE e-mail me and let me know. kw**@**se.net

Thank you,kevin

mrmumbels – posted 22 April 2009 16:11

Dixie you may want to look into ultimate flora zoysia also. It’s a new breed put out by University of Florida. I layed 500 sq ft down in my backyard but can’t say much about it since it’s in the shade.Either way, it’s supposed to be good stuff.Alex do you know any more about it?

Dixie – posted 22 April 2009 16:23

I have decided to go with JaMur Zoysia. I will let all of you know how it turns out.

thanks