re: Complete Backyard Makeover - Zoysia or St. Augustine

I bag the emerald, without exception. Only sometimes do I bag the zenith, and it isn't near as bad. Emerald zoysia grows incredibly dense and it takes a really long time for any dead parts of the plant to decay. For reference, I don't tend the compost pile to help speed it along. I just spread it out in the woods in the back. My clippings from last year are still there. This year's clippings/thatch removed will still be there next year. With that slow of a decay process, and even bagging the clippings, the normal living/dying process is such that thatch accumulates. As previously stated, the more you encourage the living cycle (feed/water), the more dying cycle you get, and the quicker thatch accumulates. Last year, I just didn't have time to keep up with it. In fact, I didn't fertilize or water the last two years, and still built up a lot of thatch that thinned growth, and as a result, got a proliferation of weeds I'm fighting with this year.

Now that I have my own power rake and I don't have to contend with the inconveniences of out of town rentals/returns, I should be able to manage a lot better.

This is all with the Emerald. The Zenith is much less work.

This is the info I went off of, from LSU AG. My revisions to it would be the once a year dethatching was inadequate for me/emerald, and a low thatch culture means you settle for lower quality than what you plant zoysia for in the first place. The other addition would be the impracticality of maintaining a reel mower. If those statements would have been made clearly, I probably wouldn't have gotten emerald.

With newer, improved varieties on the market now, some of this is outdated, but in principle it's true.

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Zoysia grasses are fine to medium fine in texture and make the highest quality lawns. They grow slowly and are slow to establish, but they are extremely aggressive and will invade other grass areas. The tendency of this grass to thatch (build up a dead, spongy base) is much greater than that of St. Augustine and Bermuda. The thatching problem often requires replacement of this type of grass after five to seven years because homeowners do not dethatch and maintain a low thatching culture. This is especially true for Zoysia lawns in south Louisiana. Those who grow Zoysia should not grow it in total full sun or under high fertility. It is a high maintenance turf. Homeowners who plant Zoysia should plan on having a reel mower that will catch grass clippings and rent a vertical mower (dethatcher) once a year. This grass may be a little more practical in extreme north Louisiana where generally lower temperatures will help limit growth. The fine-leaved Emerald hybrid and similar Matrella selection should make the best lawns. The thatch-prone Emerald does have good salt and shade tolerance. Meyer Z52 (japonica) variety is coarser, less shade-tolerant and grows faster than the other two Zoysias. El Toro is similar to Meyer but faster spreading and more stress-tolerant. Palisades, JaMur and Crowne are also good choices.

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