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Zoysia
Posted on 3/16/26 at 12:19 pm
Posted on 3/16/26 at 12:19 pm
I'd like to hear from the TD lawn experts in regards to Zoysia. My existing yard is a mix of weeds and some St Augustine. I have not had good luck getting the St Aug to thrive. The soil is essentially all sand.
I plan to round up the existing grass/weeds and pull out a few inches of the sandy soil and replace it with some better dirt.
I would like to go back with Zoysia. What's the general feedback from those who have transitioned to it? I have read that it will need to be de-thatched every couple years. Any truth to that?
Located in St. Bernard Parish.
I plan to round up the existing grass/weeds and pull out a few inches of the sandy soil and replace it with some better dirt.
I would like to go back with Zoysia. What's the general feedback from those who have transitioned to it? I have read that it will need to be de-thatched every couple years. Any truth to that?
Located in St. Bernard Parish.
8
Posted on 3/16/26 at 12:50 pm to jlong4635
I'm on year 3 or 4 of my zoysia. My only complaint is that anything that works to kill off bermuda will kill the zoysia as well. I have sections of my yard that bermuda is winning the battle. Otherwise it is a beautiful comfortable grass. I'm probably due for a dethatching at this point. Haven't done that yet.
Posted on 3/16/26 at 12:53 pm to jlong4635
Zoysia will look great year one, have a slight set back year two, then rebound year three. You will need to dethatch every 3-4 years,.
Posted on 3/16/26 at 9:57 pm to jlong4635
I’m transitioning from centipede to icon zoysia. I laid 2 pallets when I built an outdoor kitchen and have used the established sod to plug the remaining backyard and front yard. It’s gradually working, and definitely a superior grass, but I should have bit the bullet and sodded the entire yard with zoysia (19 pallets or so). This would have allowed me to fix the soil quality and improve the drainage. Now I’m stuck with a 5 to 6 year lawn restoration project.
I’ve also plugged and seeded Bermuda temporarily in areas that I’ve top dressed (zoysia spreads too slowly) then used Fusillade and recognition mixed to kill the Bermuda once the zoysia takes over.
Zoysia was definitely the right choice for me because it grows better in shady areas, chokes out the weeds, handles foot traffic, and resists the prevalent fungal diseases/mole crickets that screw my lawn up.
I’ve also plugged and seeded Bermuda temporarily in areas that I’ve top dressed (zoysia spreads too slowly) then used Fusillade and recognition mixed to kill the Bermuda once the zoysia takes over.
Zoysia was definitely the right choice for me because it grows better in shady areas, chokes out the weeds, handles foot traffic, and resists the prevalent fungal diseases/mole crickets that screw my lawn up.
Posted on 3/16/26 at 10:56 pm to jlong4635
quote:
I have read that it will need to be de-thatched every couple years. Any truth to that?
If you bag your clippings each mow and scalp every year or two the de-thaching becomes very minimal. I’ve had my Zoysia for close to 10 years now and I think I’ve de-thatched once.
Posted on 3/17/26 at 8:34 am to ksdolfan
I feel like mine just gets thick in spots and needs thinning. It’s when it goes horizontal and not vertical and my reel mower just glides over it.
Yes you can kill Bermuda and not zoysia. But it’s expensive
This year is the earliest I ever got on top of my grass. Put down a granular Specticle to try and win against dove weed. Then went 20-0-0 a couple weeks ago. It’s looking good already. Still some ugly spots from scalp but should look better by the end of the month.
Yes you can kill Bermuda and not zoysia. But it’s expensive
This year is the earliest I ever got on top of my grass. Put down a granular Specticle to try and win against dove weed. Then went 20-0-0 a couple weeks ago. It’s looking good already. Still some ugly spots from scalp but should look better by the end of the month.
Posted on 3/17/26 at 9:46 am to jlong4635
I put down 18 pallets of Zoysia Palisades in my backyard 4 years ago next month. It's pretty amazing. It was a bunch of steps I took following my pool installation. it was 50% failing centipede and 50% weeds. I torched it, brought in several dumptruck. loads of topsoil, leveled, leveled, leveled, and ended up putting down rye over the winter so I didn't mess up the soggy sod all winter.
I torched the rye with a weed burner, leveled again and put the zoysia down myself. It's like a thick plush carpet. It doesn't like the low spots much, and will get thin in the winter where it stays too wet. It bounces back quickly. Backyard is very green after the scalping a few weeks ago. Still filling in the winter shady and low damp spots. I need to do some sand leveling on a few areas.
-It requires 2x the mowing as my front centipede mix
-It creates a TON of hay that does not settle back into the grass. The zoysia is so thick it just sits on top so you kind of have to deal with it.
-Almost ZERO weeds so far. Only in the thin damp spots. If the grass is growing nothing penetrates.
-It feels so good under bare foot
I torched the rye with a weed burner, leveled again and put the zoysia down myself. It's like a thick plush carpet. It doesn't like the low spots much, and will get thin in the winter where it stays too wet. It bounces back quickly. Backyard is very green after the scalping a few weeks ago. Still filling in the winter shady and low damp spots. I need to do some sand leveling on a few areas.
-It requires 2x the mowing as my front centipede mix
-It creates a TON of hay that does not settle back into the grass. The zoysia is so thick it just sits on top so you kind of have to deal with it.
-Almost ZERO weeds so far. Only in the thin damp spots. If the grass is growing nothing penetrates.
-It feels so good under bare foot
Posted on 3/17/26 at 10:39 am to jlong4635
I am starting year 3 with Palisades Zoysia. Torched my mixture of centipede and St. Aug on purpose
Year 1 was phenomenal
Year 2 I made mistake of not scalping and I kept it too high. Resulted in not nearly as good of a lawn with too much dead grass
Start of year 3 is now. Scalped it to just above an inch 3 weeks ago and already looking great
I have yet to see a Zoysia lawn with many weeds.
Very happy with it
Year 1 was phenomenal
Year 2 I made mistake of not scalping and I kept it too high. Resulted in not nearly as good of a lawn with too much dead grass
Start of year 3 is now. Scalped it to just above an inch 3 weeks ago and already looking great
I have yet to see a Zoysia lawn with many weeds.
Very happy with it
This post was edited on 3/17/26 at 10:40 am
Posted on 3/17/26 at 10:55 am to tigerskin
quote:
I have yet to see a Zoysia lawn with many weeds.
I have a mix of zoysia and celebration bermuda in my back yard and I've noticed this as well. The zoysia seems to do a better job of out competing weeds. Surprised the hell out of me.
Posted on 3/17/26 at 12:32 pm to Loup
quote:Once my rye dies in the backyard, I'm going to go on a neighborhood walk for Zoysia sprigs.
I have a mix of zoysia and celebration bermuda in my back yard and I've noticed this as well. The zoysia seems to do a better job of out competing weeds. Surprised the hell out of me.
Posted on 3/17/26 at 7:05 pm to bayoubengals88
Is the general consensus to use a reel mower, or do some of you get by with a conventional mower?
I only plan to put zoysia in front yard and it is very small, so I dont have an issue investing in a good reel mower if needed
One the pup passes I plan to put turf in the back yard
I only plan to put zoysia in front yard and it is very small, so I dont have an issue investing in a good reel mower if needed
One the pup passes I plan to put turf in the back yard
Posted on 3/17/26 at 7:26 pm to jlong4635
My gravely does just fine. I kept mine at 2” though. It’s like a nice thick carpet
Posted on 3/18/26 at 8:12 pm to jlong4635
Loves to be short. My reel was kicking my arse so I bought a Rotarola. Still keep it at under an inch(around 5/8) . Definitely not as good of a cut as the reel but pretty nice. I’ll rotate between reel and Rotarola. Especially if I get to where I have to skip a cut.
Posted on 3/19/26 at 5:41 pm to jlong4635
If it helps, I stopped at Woerner Turf in Baton Rouge for some rocks. They’re closing the Donaldsonville farm down and blowing out the zoysia sod they harvest. I forget the exact price. Think he said $125 a pallet but don’t quote me
Posted on 3/20/26 at 10:48 am to jlong4635
I'm going into year 4 with Palisades in SELA. I love it. It is fairly low maintenance but it does require being cut once every 5-6 days during the growing season. I've not dethatched and I had one year where I had some fungus issues, but it rebounded.
I had centipede before and I always heard that centipede was a lazy-man's grass. IMO, centipede is 5x the work zoysia is. Like another poster said, it does get a bit thin in the low/wet spots in the winter, but it rebounds within a month of greening up when those spots dry out. It also recovers well from foot traffic and dog piss spots. We spend a lot of time outside in our yard and the centipede was always destroyed.
It does a great job of choking out weeds. I try to keep spray chemicals to a minimum just because of my dog, but I do granular pre-emergent in spring and fall, spot spray a couple of times in spring/summer with 24d or Celsius, and fertilize 2-3 times starting mid-April. With that program, it pretty much chokes out the weeds.
I had centipede before and I always heard that centipede was a lazy-man's grass. IMO, centipede is 5x the work zoysia is. Like another poster said, it does get a bit thin in the low/wet spots in the winter, but it rebounds within a month of greening up when those spots dry out. It also recovers well from foot traffic and dog piss spots. We spend a lot of time outside in our yard and the centipede was always destroyed.
It does a great job of choking out weeds. I try to keep spray chemicals to a minimum just because of my dog, but I do granular pre-emergent in spring and fall, spot spray a couple of times in spring/summer with 24d or Celsius, and fertilize 2-3 times starting mid-April. With that program, it pretty much chokes out the weeds.
Posted on 3/20/26 at 6:39 pm to bluemoons
Thanks to all for the feedback so far. Hopefully I can get the project done before it gets too hot
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