Zoysia El Toro – Got it by mistake should we get it replaced?

adi – posted 16 May 2011 15:39

Hello everyone,Last week our landscaping folks sodded our yard with Zoysia El Toro without confirming with us. I was still contemplating and hadn’t decided on the grass that we wanted. We were thinking Emerald or Zenith or Zeon.

Needless to say we are shocked and terribly upset. Should we have the folks change the grass?

Most of the area gets good sun 6 hours except for some area that is behind the trees.

How does El Toro compare with Emerald, Zenith or Zeon. 1. price2. maintenance3. feel (thin soft vs wide coarse)4. disease resistant5. cold and heat resistant

In all aspects above, I’d like to know which one is better. They landscaping folks said that they will fix their mistake. I hate to rip out the 6000 sq of grass if this really is a good grass to keep in Cary, NC. Should we have them change the grass or have them compensate in some other way?

Swift response will be much appreciated.

We need to decide on what we/they are going to do.

I just called super sod and found out that El Toro is a very aggressive grass and goes into flower beds and stuff and too much maintenance. Pls. provide some feed back so, we can make a decision tonight.

-K

Stan – posted 16 May 2011 22:34

First of all the SuperSod folks sell the old fine bladed Emerald and the inferior seeded Zenith. They are like very religious about it cause that is what they sell …

I bought a test few test rolls of El Torro and the newer fine bladed Zeon. They are both is semi-shade. When laid the Zeon was velvety and green, It struggled a lot in the drought at the end of the summer and still does not look thick after all this rain. I think it requires a lot of nitrogen – much like fescue. The El Torro looks much better and I think it is fine bladed enough. It is supposedly more drought tolerant. Even El Toro grows slow compared to bermuda and you can just crisp up your borders every three months

I think you will only know after having is down a full year. Being it was their mistake I wold request they put in a rounded bed or mound of Zeon in an ornametal accent island in your lawn. The look could be interesting like they do on golf courses. Then you could compare them and decide for next year.

adi – posted 17 May 2011 10:36

Thanks so much for the response. So according to you El Toro is good. Your idea sounds good but, I am not sure how it will look. Also considering the fact that toro does have a tendency to creep into flower beds it may grow into the zeon or emerald patch even if they border it.

Anyway, I really hate to waste all that grass. I feel really bad for them. At the same time this is a huge investment for us and I really like to get what we wanted. Lovely green like velvet that feels soft in your feet, that is thick and requires little or low maintenance.

-K

[This message has been edited by adi (edited 17 May 2011).]

mrmumbels – posted 17 May 2011 20:30

ADI, creeping turf is a good trait. Yes it goes into your flower beds but it also fills in bad spots when something goes wrong. Big box stores has some great edging material that I use around my flower beds.

adi – posted 17 May 2011 20:34

Zeon looks amazing. Should we not get it replaced? Just stay withe the Toro?

Even if the creeping trait is good i do not want to spend so much time maintain it.

[This message has been edited by adi (edited 18 May 2011).]

Stan – posted 18 May 2011 11:42

Zeon Will look beautiful with enough sun, water and fertilizer. It’s fine texture will make weeds and grass weeds stand out more. So arm yourself with something like Image for Nutsedge concentrate $22 at lowes or Home Depot. If your lawn is not large then then maintaining a pristine carpet could be fun.

Zeon does require more water I think. So make sure you put down the organic matter in sandy or clay soil to balance it. I would hate to see all the zeon go to waste. Maybe you could find a neighbor, church or school that would take the scraps and plug them out…