zoysia seed

jbaucom – posted 18 June 2004 13:32

I planted zoysia seed in the spring. At the time a friend insisted on adding rye grass to anchor the zoysia. The rye has been up for 2 months and will soon die. Is there any hope for the zoysia? Please help.

hugabone – posted 18 June 2004 16:33

You are really not suppose to plant ryegrass with zoysia seeds. Im trying to plant zoysia seeds myself, just laid them down last week and a hect of a storm came through and eroded my whole lawn. Iv decided to go with zoysia sod from NC. Good luck

ted – posted 18 June 2004 19:50

don’t seed zoysia!

grassnut – posted 18 June 2004 22:16

Ah! Don’t listen to ’em, of course you can seed Zoysia. But there are a few things to consider. First, you should never plant a nurse crop along with the Zoysia. The Zoysia seeds need all the sun they can get to germinate and the rye grass will just cast shade on them. Second, you should consider having your lawn hydoseeded (or hydromulched) as this process will prevent your seeds from being washed away by rain, eaten by birds or being removed one by one by your local sod dealer . Also, remember, it’s a very slow grower and will take a while to fill a lawn. You will have weeds, they’re in your soil and when you add a little fertilizer, they wake up. Just keep mowing them down and as your Zoysia grows, it will eventually choke them out. Also, you’re not going to get the fine bladed Zoysia from seed. The seeded varieties are closer to Centipede in leaf width. If you want a fine bladed Zoysia, you’ll have to sod with Emerald. But on the other hand, if you want to save yourself a wad of cash and have a nice lawn, then I would hydroseed it. Take the money you saved and invest in some Real Estate. Then in a couple of years, your grounds keeper will have to deal with the sod guys while you are on your Yacht. Good luck!