Zoysia vs Palmetta St. Augustine

gateszebzane – posted 24 May 2005 18:36

Grass master or anyone with knowledge about these two grasses? I have a few days to decide which of these two grasses to put in my yard. I have 80% of my centipede left in my back yard. I have a small area of a small blade St. Augustine on my right side of my home which came up wild. I live in N. W. Fla. Which grass Zoysia or St. Augustine will be heartier and require less maintenance and still blend with the centipede in my back yard. I have just hauled in (6) 15 cu. ft. trucks of screened top soil to even out the yard and cover the dead centepede. Which of these two grasses will be best to eventually take over the centipede.

HELP!!!!G.G

RickL – posted 24 May 2005 19:20

palmetto St. Augustine will be the most aggressive.

There are too many varieties of Zoysia. I would bore you. However, I chose Palisades Zoysia for my backyard. If you research Zoysia check out the medium bladed varieties. Palisades and El Toro are two. It is beautiful but requires much care to get it to the point of being maintenance free. (is there such a thing?_) it is just less maintenance (once fully established) because it grows slower.

I would go with St. Aug. Grows like a weed.I live in Texas near Houston. Very similar to your climate and St. Aug grows like crazy here.

gateszebzane – posted 24 May 2005 23:17

Rick L.

Thanks for your quick response. I really needed this advice, I have to make up my mind by Thursday A.M., and your experience makes the choice for me.

I had the most beautiful centipede lawn, and by some miracle a wild bunch of small blade St. Augustine (I think it is palmetto), begin to grow from nowhere and began to take over the south side of my house. It hasn’t been affected by excessive rainfall, molecrickets, nor the grub worms, but the centipede was destroyed.

Thanks again,G. G

Cary, NC – posted 05 June 2005 09:21

If you don’t mind the thick-bladed, pale green color of St. Augustine, then use it. I personally dislike all St. Augustine grasses. I used to live in Miami, and that is the only grass they grow down there. It almost looks like K-31, just uglier.

Bermuda or Zoysia are much nicer, grow slower, and the make the best carpet-like apperance.

Stay away from St. Augustine if you can.

RLines – posted 05 June 2005 11:20

I agree with Cary but sometimes people just want instant coverage, no brainer type grass.

St. Aug looks great at install, covers, and grows like a weed.

It does not look best in the long run with its thicker blades and gangly overgrown appearance. Water consumption is a major factor for St. Aug as well. It will die quickly in any extended dry period.

It all depends on what people have the time for and their circumstances. If at all possible, I would go with medium blade Zoysia. Any cultivar coming from the Meyer strain is best. othewise called Z-52. Palisades, El Toro are decendents from this line.

I recommend St. Aug for people who don’t have the time and want instant good looking coverage on a large area.

Tungsten333333 – posted 05 June 2005 11:49

Makes me wonder if anyone really know about this specific SA Palmetto. www.sodsolutions.com

RLines – posted 13 June 2005 22:11

Hope you were not referring to me….I know all about St. Aug….what did I say that was not true?

turf r us – posted 14 June 2005 07:15

Sorry if this posts for the THIRD time, but I can’t see the results of my reply ->

Caveats – As mentioned, St. Augustine of which Palmetto is probably the best cultivar for Florida or any other temperate to sub-tropical area that doesn’t experience hard freezes, requires alot of water especially in a sandy soil and must be mowed frequently…..reason why it does so well in places like Houston which get alot of rain. Zoysia, although taking longer to become established is really tough stuff while being very attractive. Zoysia has the added benefit, unlike St. Augustine, of being quite drought tolerant and can withstand alot of foot traffic.

You could do what I’m doing and sow Zoysia seed such as Zenith, a cultivar taken from Meyer. I’ve mixed Zenith with two others, J36 and J37, all available from Hogan Seed Co. out of Tennessee for around $18/lb shipped. It does take alot of frequent watering to germinate it but alleviates the huge cost of sod and labor of laying sod/plugs. See my other thread which I got an answer on from Patten Seed Co. It apparently takes at least 2 weeks to germinate, of which a few are just now coming up in my backyard. $18/1,000 s.f. is pretty cheap quality turfgrass! You now have a great seedbed for sowing seed too!

Good luck

AledoTexasGrassGuy – posted 16 June 2005 08:49

I have Raliegh St Augustine in my front yard, ElToro Zoyisa in my back. I laid the Zoyisa sod this spring and its still very slow to cover the seams and take deep root (I can still left up the sod after 6 weeks) At the same time I laid two more pallets of St.Augustine and its has covered all seams and rooted deeply.

I wanted to try Zoysia because we were having problems with slugs in the StAug. I’ll give the summer before making final judgement but as of right now I would recommend StAug over Zoyisa.

gateszebzane – posted 17 June 2005 09:14

Thanks for your reply.Sorry it took me so long to get back to you.I put down St. Agustine Palmetto and so for I am glad I did it started to root in 3 days and it would take a shovel to dig it up. Its been down for 3 weeks. Agains thanks for your reply.Gateszebzane