Who has a “Zenith” zoysia lawn??

jimtnc2002 – posted 14 September 2004 10:57

Searching for someone who has this type of zoysia grass and can share their experiences regarding maintenance, seeding time, etc. Is this variety of zoysia easier to mow and maintain than other varieties?

Can’t seem to find anyone that has this type of zoysia to pass on their experiences. I dont’ want to sound like a broken record on this, but I hate to spend a wad and then not be satisfied with the effort and looks.

Thanks, Jim.

[This message has been edited by jimtnc2002 (edited 14 September 2004).]

jimtnc2002 – posted 15 September 2004 07:01

I guess there’s not one person that has tried the new zenith seed. Guess I’m gonna have to be a pioneer and do it myself, unless I get talked into hybrid bermuda.

Wonder how much I can get someone to sprig it for me? That might be a little much for the old back.

cboothe – posted 15 September 2004 21:19

I can’t comment on Zenith Zoysia, but I have had an Empire Zoysia lawn for a little over a year now and it still looks great.

jimtnc2002 – posted 16 September 2004 07:34

ok cboothe, thanks. Not sure if Empire is a finer type of grass than zenith. Trying to get a handle of all these types. Did you have the sod layed or sprigged?

[This message has been edited by jimtnc2002 (edited 16 September 2004).]

cboothe – posted 16 September 2004 17:17

I don’t consider Empire to be fine bladed, at lease compared to pictures of other types of Zoysia I have seen. I layed sod. It spreads very slowly. I couldn’t imagine sprigging it. I love it though. I had St. Augustine before and just couldn’t keep it looking good.

jimtnc2002 – posted 17 September 2004 07:58

Ok, cboothe, thanks again. I’m getting my area prepared for the spring seeding, ie, leveling soil, aerating, etc. From what I’ve seen of Zenith, it looks really nice. Wish I could find someone around my area to look at it. Oh, well, wouldn’t be the first time I did anything blind and with a wish-and-a-prayer attitude. 🙂

cboothe – posted 17 September 2004 22:38

Some will say Zoysia is higher maintenance, but that hasn’t been my experience. I mow it with a reel mower which can be difficult if you let the grass get too tall, but mow it regularly and you won’t have a problem. You can mow it with a rotary, but it doesn’t look as good. I don’t have to worry about chinch bugs or crab grass, and even dollar weed has a hell of a time poking up though it. I use red lava rock around my trees and flower beds. The Zoysia will actually knit over the lava rock. I’m just real impressed with it.

jimtnc2002 – posted 19 September 2004 03:32

thanks for the reply, cboothe. Of all the folks I read and talked to about zoysia, and with only a handful being negative, most everyone has endorsed zoysia of one variety or another. The one thing they all agree on is they hope it doesn’t grow wild, because they haven’t found anything that will kill it. Anyway, I’m gonna seed it in the spring and we’ll see what happens then. Thanks.

cboothe – posted 19 September 2004 17:22

I did kill one small patch by leaving fire ant killer (can’t remember if it was dursban or diazinon granules) laying overnight without watering it in. That killed it good. Took forever for it to grow back in too…..

jimtnc2002 – posted 20 September 2004 05:50

LOL…I believe I did that with Diazinon last year. Oops. You gotta keep the old thinking cap on all the time.

sod buster – posted 24 September 2004 17:07

I once seeded a very large yard with Zenith and then moved a couple of years later. The seed took sporadically but I didn’t attempt to hold it in place with hay or anything. I wish I had because Zenith is slow to germinate so I had some washout from heavy rains before germination. Where it stuck it was beautiful and spreading nicely. My area was a little too large to manage by moving hoses around but in a more controlled environment I think it could work great. I’ve seen controlled environments that were hydroseeded and they did very well. I’d hydroseed and buy extra packages of seed and get the hydro company to up the concentration and put it down heavily while keeping it watered and covered with straw knowing germination is slow.

jimtnc2002 – posted 25 September 2004 17:49

thanks sod buster. I’ve got a few months until spring to get all this straight. I hate to spend a ton on seed again, but I will if I know I won’t be doing it twice a year from now on. 🙂

I’ve got about 10-12k sf, and I’m not sure if I can afford to do 2lbs every 1000 sf. I’ll do what I can, though.