Zoysia dying out and pulling up like new sod

PhillipH – posted 07 October 2008 12:38

My Meyer zoysia was sodded roughly one year ago. It has been doing well all year, getting thicker and healthier in appearance. Over the past 4-6 weeks, however, I started noticing scattered dead grass blades mixed in with the healthy blades. If I look under the canopy of the grass, I see alot of dead grass underneath that pulls free easily. Then, I discovered that if I grab the lawn with both hands, it pulls up like sod. Basically, it only seems to be rooted lightly, and it pulls free without a great deal of force. I’m getting worried that I have major problem brewing. This appears to be taking place throughout my entire back yard. Could this be insects of some sort? Grubs or billbugs? I have found a few grubs when I pull up sections of the turf, but not huge amounts. Thinking back to the summer, the zoysia seemed to need water more frequently than it should have. I usually water on an as-needed basis, and I was always surprised at how quickly it would roll and wilt. I just assumed that the roots hadn’t gotten very deep yet.

Thanks for any advice!

Alex_in_FL – posted 07 October 2008 15:33

That sounds like billbugs. Just curious, was the yard prepped or was sod just placed atop old lawn?

Have you seen any black beetle like bugs? If yes you definitely have bill bugs.

Here is my suggestion:1. Spray for bill bugs immediately. 2. Spray for disease/fungus also unless you have a huge lawn and cost is prohibitive (just in case).3. Water deeply when you water (1/2 to 3/4 of an inch or even more but never less).

Here is what I did and it seemed to work:Week 1. Applied Bifenthrin and a fungicideWeek 4. Sprayed ImidaclopridRe apply Imidaclorpid every three months for about a year.

Why Imidaclorpid? Because the plant absorbs it and it helps kill the insects when they eat the plant.

Why apply every three months? Billbugs go from egg to larva to insect. You can’t kill the eggs. They usually lay eggs twice/year and eggs, larva and insects may all be present at any one time.

Best of luck to you !!

Alex

PhillipH – posted 07 October 2008 19:57

I worked extensively to prep the yard. I created a homemade drag mat and went over and over the back yard until it looked like a baseball infield.

I can’t say that I’ve seen alot of black beetles, but I do think I’ve seen a few. I wasn’t aware they had anything to do with billbugs.

Sounds like a good plan, thanks. I do like the systemic effect of imidacloprid. I used it with great success on my azaleas this year (lacebugs). I sprayed for billbugs about 2 weeks ago, and I also applied some Bayer granular product too. I also applied Bayleton about 1 week ago, just in case, like you said. I’ve already seen rust in the turf back in May, so I wanted to take all precautions. Watered it in real well.

Thanks,Phillip

Alex_in_FL – posted 12 October 2008 04:14

Sounds like you did the yard right! And that really makes me suspect billbugs. (note: technically bill bugs are not “beetles” but many homeowners mistakenly call the little critters beetles so I used that term.)

Let us know how the battle goes.

PhillipH – posted 12 October 2008 07:31

I worked hard on that back yard and was definitely proud of it! Here’s a link to a pic.

http://www.knology.net/~herrons/backyard.jpg

I went back and looked at exactly what I put out 2-3 wks ago, and it turns out that imidicloprid was one of the products. It was “Bayer Complete Insect Killer”. I also put out some Triazinon Once-N-Done liquid to hopefully get a quicker initial effect.

Thanks,Phillip