Zorro Zoysia battling St Augustine

greenfingers – posted 26 October 2009 08:21

I really despise St Augustine because it is so invasive that a small strip my neighbors planted completely overwhelmed my buffalo grass and invaded my flower beds.

I am considering planting Zorro Zoysia to replace the St Augustine that is now inhabiting my lawn, but wonder if I’m going to constantly battle the neighbours 4′ wide strip of StA. The area receives some shade in summer but not complete shade. How shade-tolerant is Zorro Zoysia? My experience with El Toro in a different area is that it can tolerate some shade so long as it gets some sun and the shade is not deep.

I am also considering begging my neighbor to replace their 4′ wide strip of StA with Zoysia. Despite a big metal landscaping edging dividing the StA from my buffalo, that StA just marched right in. I HATE it.

Your thoughts appreciated!

tommy – posted 27 October 2009 08:17

St Augustine is easily controlled with MSMA (crabgrass killer), but won’t hurt the Zoysia. You may have to spray 3 or 4 times a year, but for such a small area, it won’t be a hassle. Just keep a little spray bottle of it handy, and knock it back occasionaly. For bigger araes, use a hose end sprayer.

greenfingers – posted 27 October 2009 11:13

I have a large post oak in the area that I really baby – so I am careful about using chemicals anywhere near there. But I do figure it’d be less a chore than trying to keep the StA out of buffalo grass – which I did before. No offence to those who really like StA, but I HATE it.

mrmumbels – posted 28 October 2009 17:57

I hate StA too! It’s always got a few runners out into my empire zoysia. As posted earlier, it’s super easy to kill of without even noticing it on the zoysia.

brushout – posted 26 December 2009 20:38

I too hate St Augustine.

It requires too much water and chemicals to keep it green.