Zoysia for South Atlanta yard?

BeauDarvil – posted 09 March 2005 09:51

I was about to place my order for 2000 plugs of Amazoy (Meyer) Zoysia for my yard when I realized I hadn’t researched the purchase very much. So here I am, researching.

I’ve read the long thread regarding zoysiafarms.com and it looks like quite a few folks are unhappy with their product. However a few folks were quite pleased with the results of plugging with this product.

Everyone claims to have applied the proper amount of TLC to the plugs and I’ll gladly take them at their word. I wonder now if geography had anything to do with it.

I noticed that some of the negative posts were from folks up north and at least one postitive came from a southerner. Could it be that these zoysia plugs are a better product for warmer climates like here in Atlanta?

I am no expert on turf at all. I’ve wasted much money and time nursing along a fescue lawn here in Atlanta only to see my labors burned away by the long August afternoons. Financially sod is not something I want to do so I thought the plug thing would be a good piece of middle ground.

Are there any Georgia (or southern) residents on here that can give me some info on the Amazoy (Meyer) plugs and their degree of success here in the sunny South?

Thank you in advance.

Beau

turfman – posted 10 March 2005 15:03

slam it in. here in charlotte it grows crazy , but you must really put the fetilizer to it when it isn’t brown (in the winter). Personally, i love zosia, and have applied it some. the carpet affect is unmatched.

As far as fescue goes……most of the lunies down here in the south (no offense) arent educated enough to give it the nurturing it needs during the hot days we seem to have. it is all to often i see burned up lawns in the residential, and commercial lawns.In most cases with fescue,it is not native to the southeast nor is it meant to be here, but if it is, you really have to tend to it with a lot of love!By the way, Its the fly by lawn companies who seem to accomplish the fry daddy lawn.

BeauDarvil – posted 10 March 2005 17:45

Thanks for the reply Turfman (I assume that’s an alias…do you change in a phone booth or what?).

I think I’ll do the Amazoy plug thing but use a little bigger plug than the suggested 1×1…perhaps 3×3.

turfman – posted 11 March 2005 14:20

actually i change in the usual public restroom if ya must know. if you do us the plugs…ugh….then a product called bolster is avalable for the guarentee of you turfs health. are all georgians as funny as you?

BeauDarvil – posted 11 March 2005 17:01

I can only assume you mean “funny” haha not just “funny”. And yes, to be sure, all Georgians are funny in one sense of the word or another.

Bolster…is this something I can find at the local nursery or Walmart?

turfman – posted 14 March 2005 06:42

actually no……it is a uncommon innoculant not used by lawn tecs, for some unknown reason. you can purchase it at tou local “Lesco” dealer.

BigH829 – posted 14 March 2005 15:10

BeauDarvil:

I’m in Birmingham, and I highly recommend Zoysia for the mid-southeast. I have it in my yard and really love it. I posted a long list of stuff in the thread re Avoid This Company (https://turfgrass.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/000084-3.html). There are a few tips in that post re Zoysia.

One thing I forgot to put in that post – don’t go too long without mowing Zoysia. If you wait too long, you will get into even more trouble with thatch, because you should NEVER mow Zoysia more than 1″ at the time. Scalping during the growing season will hurt your Zoysia pretty bad.

As for growing Zoysia, I would suggest buying plugs that are larger than 1×1. The very best way to plug is to buy 1/4 of the sod needed to cover your yard, and split the sod squares into 4 pieces (a flat-blade shovel or a hatchet is fine). That will give you about a 6×12 plug, which will root and spread better. Space the plugs about 12-18″ apart, and use the extra plugs to form closer-spaced borders around flower beds, trees, driveways, etc. After you finish laying the sod, apply a moderate dusting of 13-13-13 fertilizer and water the living daylights out of it.

If you are still looking for alternatives, as I suggest in that other post, consider Tifton Bermuda, St. Augustine, and Centipede. Bermuda spreads like crazy, while the other two are more slow-growing like Zoysia. Centipede is especially sensitive to herbicides, but you don’t have to use as much because it does a great job of choking weeds. It also isn’t as pretty (in my opinion) because the leaf is wider and tends to a more pale shade of green.

Hope that helps,

H

[This message has been edited by BigH829 (edited 14 March 2005).]

turfman – posted 15 March 2005 07:07

big, thatch has never been a problem in my zosia turfs, i aleays apply an agent that breaks down thatch quicker

BeauDarvil – posted 08 May 2005 05:05

Just a note to update my progress…

I followed through with my order of Amazoy plugs and installed them in about a 3×3 plug size spaced evenly over the front lawn.

As many previous threads have stated, the plugs arrived as squares of sod and were very brown with only a few sprigs of green on them. I was concerned and unimpressed but pressed on.

It has been just a day or two over 4 weeks now and all of the plugs have greened up nicely. While they haven’t shown any signs of spreading yet (I’m sure it’s a bit early for that) they do seem to have rooted well and I’m relatively confident that they will grow for me.

I haven’t fertilized them at all yet but was diligent in watering them for the first 3 weeks. Atlanta has had an abundance of rain this Spring and that helped my “diligence” a good bit;-) I suppose now that they’ve greened up some fertilizer is called for. What do you guys think?

I’ll bore you folks from time to time with my zoysia’s progress as the season moves along.

Thanks again to Turfman and Big*** for all the info.

Beau

TiredOfWeeds – posted 27 May 2005 11:44

We recently purchased Azazoy plugs from the farm in Maryland. We got them Monday or Tuesday and were as you said, brown with a few sprigs of green. The problem is, we ordered 2000 plugs with 400 free, we have received two boxes with 3 10×15 sheets in each box. There is no way this is our 2400 plugs. Also, one of the boxes had no moisture liner in it and the sod was dried out and awful looking. I sent the co an e-mail and was responded to that UPS was checking into the damage of the one box, but no answer as to where the rest of our plugs are. We plugged 2×2 pieces of what sod we were sent and have trouble finding them among our weeds to water them. I will keep you updated on the outcome of our situation with this company. Oh, and we are in Missouri where zoysia seems to do very well.

RLines – posted 31 May 2005 14:00

Turfman:

What “agent” do you apply to break down thatch in ZOysia?

RLINES – posted 31 May 2005 14:31

I feel your pain with Zoysia Plugs. Personally I went with sodded Zoysia. Zoysia establishes slower, so giving it a head start with sod really helped establish my Palisades Zoysia lawn. I guess if you don’t have the money and you have a large area to cover, Plugs are the only option. Plugs just make the maintenance that much harder trying to get rid of weeds between the plugs.