Zoysia Grass

[WVBill]

I live in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia which is Zone 6. My house is on about 4 acres of what was pasture land and four years of mowing makes it look fairly good - from a distance. There's a fair amount of grass (fescue?, Blue Grass?) but an equal amount of every weed in the book.

I would like to make the acre or so right around the house anyway more "lawn-like". But that's way too big to try either total renovation or chemical attack on the broad-leaf weeds.

I have seen advertisements about Zoysia grass and how it will crowd out all the weeds etc. etc. I know in my zone it goes completely brown in Winter but I can live with that. I understand it is very drought tolerant and requires little watering.

So, anyone have experience with Zoysia in Zone 6? How long does it take for the Zoysia to take over? What does it look like in the mean time? Pros - cons?

WVBill

[beenthere]

Is "weeks" a slang term for "weeds" or am I missing something. I assume it wasn't a typo, as it is the same three times. Maybe a "local" term used only in WVA? [img]/forums/images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

[WVBill]

Beenthere: [img]/forums/images/icons/blush.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/confused.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/confused.gif[/img]

I kon't thind you are missing anything. Maybe someboky switchek the "d" and "k" deys on my deaboard.

I'm glak you founk my mistade.

Thand you. [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[GaryM]

I have Zoysia in St. Louis area and it does crowd out most weeds, but I don't plan to plant it in the new place when it's done. I'm going to look into "Buffalo Grass".

I don't remember what zone St. Louis is in.

[beenthere]

Thanks. Didn't mean to pick, but the spelling of the grass also helped me look up the grass (I had a completely different idea of what this grass was). Although there were some foreign site's that came up under the first search. [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[Handyman]

I am in Tenn and planted a new lawn last summer. I found a seed place where I was able to buy Zoysia grass seed. I did a lot of research before buying this grass ans this is what I found out.

10 lbs of seed (very tiny seed at that) will cover aprox 2,000 and will cost you about $265.

(1st hand experience) It is very slow germination and requires watering twice a day or needs to stay damp. It took me almost 30 days to get grass 1" tall. The ground temp needs to me warm for germination. Another words, unless you live in Florida, you are better off waiting until may-june to plant seed.

No grass is a cure all for weeds, but a healthy lawn will crowd out weeds better than a sick one.

Zoysia like to be cut close to the ground , it stimulates growth.
and of course this would burn weeds and other grasses, also
Zoysia will grow to (supposedly) 3-4" tall if left unmowed.

I will take about two yrs for the grass to fully establish itself with good care.

The more you water and fertilize this grass, the faster it will grow. so once established, if you don't water it much, you won't have to mow as often.

When you fertilize, you will need to make sure that it is Zoysia compatible.