Zoysia – Empire / Emerald / Zenith

dcr5595 – posted 03 April 2012 14:14

Hello – I am obviously new to this f***m, but, I am looking for some advice on replacing my St Augustine lawn. I have already cut it out, raked, and leveled everything out. I am just looking for the best zoysia for NE Florida. Any advice or guidance would be appreciated. We have heard good things about Empire but the Emerald looks good as well. Thanks in advance!

ocean – posted 06 April 2012 14:16

Emerald (fine blade) and Empire (course blade) are both very nice and do well in N. Florida. When my Zoysia came in, I did not realize there were so many cultivars. Here is a great article on them.

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/LH/LH01100.pdf

Understand what kind of mower you will use determines the height determines the cultivar

In practice I have seen Emerald do better visually, but those folks have rotary mowers, perfectly flat yards and no kids. The Empire yards seem to have more thatch issues but appear to be more drought tolerate, and more traffic resistant. This is my first spring and I am personally having the same issues with Thatch, and am too nervous to cut to 1″ with a rotary. Looking forward to see what other say.

gt2201b – posted 08 April 2012 18:46

quote:Originally posted by ocean:Emerald (fine blade) and Empire (course blade) are both very nice and do well in N. Florida. When my Zoysia came in, I did not realize there were so many cultivars. Here is a great article on them.

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/LH/LH01100.pdf

Understand what kind of mower you will use determines the height determines the cultivar

In practice I have seen Emerald do better visually, but those folks have rotary mowers, perfectly flat yards and no kids. The Empire yards seem to have more thatch issues but appear to be more drought tolerate, and more traffic resistant. This is my first spring and I am personally having the same issues with Thatch, and am too nervous to cut to 1″ with a rotary. Looking forward to see what other say.

No way would I scalp my empire. Spraying molasses 3oz/gallon is a better way to get rid of thatch. I’ve heard (never seen) of people having success scalping and even burning their lawn. I’m just not that brave. I’ll stick to molasses (no pun intended).

[This message has been edited by gt2201b (edited 08 April 2012).]