Zenith vs Emerald Zoysia

Zenith ftw!






oh wait, wrong board?

Just had 4 pallets of Empire Zoysia installed. My installer said the most important thing right now is not to overwater it so I'm running a sprinkler 10 minutes every 3 days. It's already starting to germinate and turn green.

I have never had success with zoysia seed. It's not like bermuda. I'd go the sod route. Emerald for $260 a pallet isn't bad at all.

quote:

---

Just had 4 pallets of Empire Zoysia

---

We had empire zoysia at our last house in Marietta Georgia. It makes one of the most beautiful tropical looking lawns. It is a fast horizontal growing, medium/wide blade grass that does really well in partial shade.

If you fertilize it too soon or overwater it, the leaf tips will turn a purplish red, possibly making you think it has a fungus when it doesn't. In Marietta, I think the fertilization schedule recommended by the Cobb County Cooperative Extension service instructed us to wait until May before applying any fertilizer. I had been fertilizing it in March or April and the lawn did great for about 5 or so years before early fertilization started causing problems.

I recommend that you Google Empire Zoysia and find the site dedicated to it with the timelines how to take care of it. Also recommend that you take soil samples to your local county co-op for testing and recommendations from them.

One really strange thing about Empire Zoysia is when it gets really hot and sunny, the grass leaves will curl up like the grass is dying. Then as soon as the sun goes down and it gets a little cooler, the leaves will rapidly unfold back to normal. Maybe other grass types do this, but it is a trademark behavior for Empire zoysia that makes it really drought tolerant. This behavior of the grass will tempt you to water it too often. Once we came back from a two week vacation in the middle of a hot drought. Our GFCI outlet for our sprinkler system had tripped. When we came back, I thought the lawn was dead. After watering it, the leaves unfolded and the lawn sprang back to life. After you get your sod established, try not to water it every time the leaves curl up in the late afternoon. It's a normal response of that particular zoysia grass.

Good luck with your new lawn.

I put down 28 pallets of Emerald Zoysia in 2005. I also planted zenith zoysia seed on the other side of my driveway that I couldn’t afford to sod too. Emerald cannot be had from seed. There are new varieties that may be improved. But in 2005, Emerald was the Cadillac of zoysias. I still have it, but I would not recommend it. From all my research before getting it, the one thing that didn’t surface was how quickly a reel mower dulls with Emerald. Emerald blades are thin and stiff/wiry. Uncut, the tips are prickly. I had a commercial 26” reel mower. It would cost $100 to have it sharpened, and within a month, the grass blades would be fraying. Emerald is so dense, the yard would look frosted from the fraying, and really look bad. Thatch buildup is also extreme with emerald. I wound up selling my reel mower and buying a commercial power rake/Dethatcher. I Dethatch a minimum of two times each summer, sometimes three. I cut with a rotary riding mower and just accept the fraying. I usually cut on Sunday or Monday evening and by the weekend it will have healed and looks good. It should also be noted that the grass blades are somewhat waxy, and take a really long time to decompose, which also causes the excess thatch. I bag every cut and it’s still a problem. When it’s perfect, it’s a gorgeous grass. But the depth/darkness of the green is very much dependent on how much you fertilize and water. But the more you fertilize, the more you have to water, especially when rain is lacking, or it’ll really show heat distress. Do all of that, and the thatch problem grows. I’m ok with my current regimen. But I generally never have it as gorgeous as it can be, mostly because of the impossibility of a constantly sharp reel mower. I’ve just accepted it. You can bag every time, never fertilize, never water, and you’ll still build up thatch. Don’t dethatch and your yard will get spongy, start looking bad, and will result in scalping. The roots will also start rising from the dirt and into the thatch layer, making it sparse and very easily damaged. It feels like walking on a bed mattress when thatch becomes excessive.

Zenith on the other side of the driveway is a wider, softer blade. It’s similar to empire zoysia in blade appearance. Color isn’t quite as good, but not a great contrast with equal fertilizer and water. It isn’t as waxy/shiny as emerald, so it does lack some of the brilliant appearance emerald has in the sun. Know that you will need to keep zenith seed wet for good germination. I had sprinklers programmed to come on very frequently for short periods, to keep everything damp around the clock. That was very successful, but I don’t know how successful you can be without a good sprinkler system. Zenith cuts better with a rotary mower than emerald does. It will thatch up too, but not as bad as emerald. I hauled dirt in that area a few years ago, so I have a lot of weeds I’m fighting, mostly common Bermuda.

If you really rather sod, I don’t blame you. Establishing zenith from seed while suppressing weeds will be a challenge. But I wouldn’t recommend emerald. It’s a ton of work, very expensive to keep looking great. It’s constant. I’d try to find a lower maintenance variety from sod.

quote:

---

Should I buy a thin layer of some sort of fertile dirt to put down before seeding or sodding?

---

We installed our Empire grass in May. To prepare our lawn. We put Roundup on the current Bermuda and weeds, plus granular insecticide to kill grubs. Then we waited 2 weeks. Then put down a good layer of the same dirt they use on golf course greens. Don't remember what that was, but we had a dump truck load delivered from the local dirt/rock supplier.

EDIT:. I think the dirt we added was called topdressing. It is a mix of sand and dirt.

I planted several pieces of sod when I lived in OKC several years ago because it looked so beautiful. With surprisingly little shade, it faded away completely over the next few months.
I had also seen it in full sun where it was so thick, it had a “puffy” appearance and light green.
I’d imagine in the right place with the right care, it’d be great.

Also meant to ask, does anyone burn their thatch layer in the off-season? I accidentally did that when the fire pit jumped into the yard but seemed to help with that thick stuff