Zoysia lawn trouble/questions

Rigatony – posted 30 June 2007 10:06

I recently took over some landscaping duties from my father. The pre-existing zoysia lawn is still brown and doesn’t look like any other zoysia lawns in the neighborhood.

The roots look brown then finally produce a green leaf about 2 inches up. i have some photos that might help explain.

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e153/beastity/IMG_0035.jpg

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e153/beastity/IMG_0034.jpg

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e153/beastity/IMG_0033.jpg

is this a thatch problem, or a bug problem? i have no idea.

if anyone wants anymore photos/videos to help see deeper into this i will get them for you.

I live on long island, its a front lawn to a east facing house. gets good sun. I did not do any fertilizing yet—i stick to the less frequent deep watering rules.

thank you all in advance

drdos1943 – posted 30 June 2007 11:36

Hi…

There is so much advice about Zoysia and so much of it is conflicting.

About three months ago, we had our front lawn completely sodded with Jamur Zoysia and were advised to water it every day while it was “taking” and then, as you were advised, water it deeply and infrequently. Our grass, when it was taking looked like your pictures; so I fertilized it, but using about half the amount as for regular grass…again as recommended.

Well, as you may have heard, the skies then opened up in this region of Texas for over a week. We had more rain in one day than we usually have in three months…and it seemed like it would go on forever. Even with good drainage, the front lawn for over a week was covered with a constant two or more inches of water. Even the fire ants couldn’t take it.

Yesterday was the first day without rain. I figured the lawn would have drowned …everything else did. Today, the lawn has no thatch and is so thick and green that it feels like high-pile carpet when walked upon.

….so if nothing else works, perhaps you ought to try drowning it for a while.

Marvin CohnSan Antonio, TX

TexanOne – posted 30 June 2007 14:16

I agree with trying extra water for a while to see what happens. From the photos, it appears the Zoysia was thick at one time, but is now thinning / dying out some. The grass blades look healthy and there doesn’t seem to be any obvious disease present. Zoysia does need more water than is generally advertised to look good, so I agree with drdos…

Rigatony – posted 07 July 2007 10:14

Thanks for the help. I watered about an inch worth on monday and we had a decent amount of rain here wed/thu. I also started cutting at 2 inches instead of 1.5

Here are some pics from this week with the results. They look a lot better in comparison to last week, but I know it’s to early to tell.

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e153/beastity/IMG_0091.jpg

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e153/beastity/IMG_0092.jpg

mrmumbels – posted 14 March 2008 06:14

any new pics of this lawn? I started cutting my empire zoysia at 4 inches last year then brought it down to 2 inches and it’s looked like that ever since. Actually a bit worse. Like there’s these little brown twigs sticking out of the ground but they’re all still alive. Anyong have any ideas? i can take some pics

green in atlanta – posted 25 March 2008 08:40

quote:Originally posted by mrmumbels:any new pics of this lawn? I started cutting my empire zoysia at 4 inches last year then brought it down to 2 inches and it’s looked like that ever since. Actually a bit worse. Like there’s these little brown twigs sticking out of the ground but they’re all still alive. Anyong have any ideas? i can take some pics

You’re learning what most of us with Empire Zoysia eventually do. No matter what the “experts” say, I have found that my Empire Zoysia looks its best when cut three inches or higher. Those “little brown twigs” as you call them will most likely grow back out, and your lawn will recover. But I’ve been there. Perhaps if you cut your lawn every 2nd or 3rd day at that 2 inch height you could “train” the grass to grow a little more horizontally, but I’ve never had the patience to try it. Set your mower around 3-3.5 inches and leave it there, imo. When Empire Zoysia is healthy and happy there is no more beautiful turf out there.

mrmumbels – posted 05 June 2010 19:12

green in atlanta, How is your Zoysia doing?