zoysia in Colorado

katmar104 – posted 19 July 2009 15:05

My father planted our zoysia lawn over forty years ago. It thrived for years and then after his death in 1984 my mother started using a local chemical company that does five fertilizer and weed treatments per year. The zoysia seemed to handle this over the years although along the way we did see some death and then rebirth. However this year probably 30% has problems. They said that it was winter kill because we did not water enough during the winter. My mother thought they applied a herbicide not rated for zoysia. I have since researched a bit and found that zoysia has trouble if overfertilized so we canceled the lawn program with the chemical company. We have two knolls and in the bare spots from the dead Zoysia the ground is very compacted so the water has trouble staying on. My question is what do we do to get the Zoysia to thrive again? I have transplanted some zoysia to real bare spots and that is taking hold. In the back I am getting some yellowing, not sure what that is about. The backyard is recovering better than the front as it was not all on the knoll as the western facing front yard. Any help appreciated especially as it pertains to zoysia in Colorado. I know I need aeration for the compacted areas and not sure when to do it.

tommy – posted 19 July 2009 21:46

You can aerate now, and apply an organic lawn food afterward. It sounds like the soil could use something other than a chemical fertilizer. Go to a regular nursery for organic stuff… not Home depot or Lowe’s.

katmar104 – posted 20 July 2009 04:30

thank youI will look into having it aerated.Also have you or anyone heard anything about using cornmeal as a fertilizer?

tommy – posted 21 July 2009 12:43

I have not used corn meal, but you should probably go for a fertilizer that contains humus. I forgot to mention that on my other post.