# War on Zoysia in my Bermuda Lawn



## Awar (Feb 25, 2019)

Some of you may have seen my previous thread on killing Zoysia in my bermudagrass lawn: https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7744

This new thread is to track progress and hopefully get additional guidance as I go through the process.

1) I purchased TRICOR, TENACITY, and MSO as recommended.
2) @Greendoc recommended a rate of: TRICOR (4 dry oz per acre), TENACITY (4 fl oz per acre), MSO (per label).
3) Since I am treating a total area of 600 sq-ft using a 2 gallon sprayer I calculated the amounts needed for that area and mixed with enough water to do overlapping passes at consistent speed.
4) I treated a test area last week and here are the results.

*2019:*
*
* EDIT: thread being updated with 2020 treatments & results*

*Products used:*


*July 2: treated test area (3 photos):*




*July 9: status of test area (3 photos):*




As expected my bermuda grass is yellowing but when you look closer you see that there is some green bermuda in there so it should recover. BUT I don't see any impact on the Zoysia thus far and it's still growing above the bermuda even after mowing. This photo shows treated Zoysia (left) and untreated Zoysia from another area of the yard (right). There's no difference.



Thoughts? Recommendations? Shouldn't I expect a visual impact on Zoysia within 1 week? Should I proceed with treating the other areas? I know using the pump sprayer is not perfect but I tried my best to calibrate my spray rate/speed (did a lot of testing using water only) and I used precision tools to measure the small amounts of TRI-COR and TENACITY required for 600 sq-ft...

Appreciate the help1


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## Greendoc (Mar 24, 2018)

Zoysia does not necessarily react within 7 days. Maximum bleaching and damage happens in about 14 days. Green Bermuda with bleached Zoysia in between it all.


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## Awar (Feb 25, 2019)

Thanks @Greendoc that's encouraging. I will hit the other areas as soon as I see 48-72 hrs of no rain in the forecast! Problem is here in GA it's 40%+ rain chance pretty much every day!


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## Awar (Feb 25, 2019)

10 days after treatment in the test area you can definitely see the difference! I need that dry window now to treat the rest of my infested areas

July 12: status of test area (3 photos):




I will update at 14 days per @Greendoc's recommendation.


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## HungrySoutherner (May 29, 2018)

I'm attempting something similar with tenacity and simazine to remove common Bermuda from my 419.


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## Awar (Feb 25, 2019)

Update: 15 days after treatment in the test area you can see bleached Zoysia and green bermuda! @Greendoc is awesome!

I applied the same treatment to all other infested areas on July 14. Will report back after a couple of weeks.

July 17: status of test area (3 photos):


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## UFG8RMIKE (Apr 21, 2019)

Nice, I still need to tackle the reverse issue with Bermuda in my Zoysia &#128513;


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## Redtwin (Feb 9, 2019)

UFG8RMIKE said:


> Nice, I still need to tackle the reverse issue with Bermuda in my Zoysia 😁


Is that even possible? :shock:


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## Jwsjr (May 16, 2018)

just went with the same program. How's yours coming along? I only sprayed 1000 sf total. i did .09 oz Tricor and .09 Tenacity with 1 oz MSO. This sound right? Sure not a lot of herbicides for a small area. Anxious to see results. I've got neighbors on both sides with Zoysia that's invading my lovely bermuda that I want OUT.


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## Darth_V8r (Jul 18, 2019)

Dumb question, but would salt work? I had a friend who killed annual grass in his bermuda with swimming pool salt


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## Greendoc (Mar 24, 2018)

Darth_V8r said:


> Dumb question, but would salt work? I had a friend who killed annual grass in his bermuda with swimming pool salt


Not a dumb question at all. Most varieties of Zoysia are extremely salt tolerant. It is very common for beachfront lawns in Hawaii to be Zoysia.


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## Awar (Feb 25, 2019)

Jwsjr said:


> just went with the same program. How's yours coming along? I only sprayed 1000 sf total. i did .09 oz Tricor and .09 Tenacity with 1 oz MSO. This sound right? Sure not a lot of herbicides for a small area. Anxious to see results. I've got neighbors on both sides with Zoysia that's invading my lovely bermuda that I want OUT.


I'll be back in town soon and check out the progress and get ready for my second app. If I remember correctly the amounts I used to treat almost 600 sq ft were approx. 1.5g Tri-Cor and 1.5ml Tenacity (based on the 4 oz. per acre recommendation). I used less than 2 gallons of water and can't remember the amount of MSO but it was per label close to middle of the recommended range.

Good luck & let me know how it works for you!


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## drewwitt (Jun 25, 2018)

Redtwin said:


> UFG8RMIKE said:
> 
> 
> > Nice, I still need to tackle the reverse issue with Bermuda in my Zoysia 😁
> ...


Yep. I'm in year #2 of the teflon ester + fuisilade approach and its working great. Almost completely out of Bermuda in my zoysia.


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## bhutchinson87 (Jun 25, 2018)

Redtwin said:


> UFG8RMIKE said:
> 
> 
> > Nice, I still need to tackle the reverse issue with Bermuda in my Zoysia 😁
> ...


Pretty sure that's what a lot of people use Fusilade II for

https://www.domyown.com/fusilade-ii-herbicide-p-1774.html


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## Jwsjr (May 16, 2018)

Mine looking real similar. Torpedo and Zoysia struggling with my custom feed. Enjoy.


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## Awar (Feb 25, 2019)

Jwsjr said:


> Mine looking real similar. Torpedo and Zoysia struggling with my custom feed. Enjoy.


 :thumbup:


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## Awar (Feb 25, 2019)

Update: July 28

*Test Area (26 days after treatment):*
Zoysia greened-up again per pics below. I was away on vacation so I did not apply my second treatment after 3 weeks as recommended. I will hit it with second treatment within the next few days. @Greendoc and others do you have any additional input on that?



*Other Areas (14 days after treatment):*
Bleached Zoysia as expected. I'm getting ready for my second treatment within the next few days. I will not miss the 3 week recommendation this time but is there anything I need to do differently?


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## jakemauldin (Mar 26, 2019)

Jwsjr said:



> Mine looking real similar. Torpedo and Zoysia struggling with my custom feed. Enjoy.


Nice place you got there!


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## DFW_Zoysia (May 31, 2019)

Maybe just realize Zoysia is the superior grass and kill off the Bermuda? Sorry, as a Zeon Zoysia owner I couldn't resist.


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## Awar (Feb 25, 2019)

DFW_Bermuda said:


> Maybe just realize Zoysia is the superior grass and kill off the Bermuda? Sorry, as a Zeon Zoysia owner I couldn't resist.


:no:


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## LoCutt (Jul 29, 2019)

Assuming you know the specific cultivars involved, hopefully they'll flourish at different HOCs. So optimizing your HOC can help one variety and damage the other. If damaged, perhaps the chemical treatment would work better.


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## Awar (Feb 25, 2019)

LoCutt said:


> Assuming you know the specific cultivars involved, hopefully they'll flourish at different HOCs. So optimizing your HOC can help one variety and damage the other. If damaged, perhaps the chemical treatment would work better.


That's a good suggestion but I do not know the exact details. I have to mow a little high using a rotary mower due to scalping issues (needs leveling) and apparently that HOC suits the Zoysia from what I've seen during the past couple years.


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## ktgrok (May 25, 2019)

DFW_Bermuda said:


> Maybe just realize Zoysia is the superior grass and kill off the Bermuda? Sorry, as a Zeon Zoysia owner I couldn't resist.


This presumes that bermuda can be killed.


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## HungrySoutherner (May 29, 2018)

@Awar how much yellowing did you see in your bermuda. I'm doing a similar operation on my common bermuda in my Hybrid 419 and during the second application I'm getting an extreme yellowing reaction on my hybrid. I'm hoping it will bounce back in a few days.


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## Awar (Feb 25, 2019)

HungrySoutherner said:


> @Awar how much yellowing did you see in your bermuda. I'm doing a similar operation on my common bermuda in my Hybrid 419 and during the second application I'm getting an extreme yellowing reaction on my hybrid. I'm hoping it will bounce back in a few days.


@HungrySoutherner it went pretty yellow as you can see in the July 9 photos in my first post. It did bounce back quickly after that.


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## Awar (Feb 25, 2019)

Quick update as it's been 2 months since I posted:

I had the issue at ~10 different spots with overall infested area of ~600 sq-ft out of my almost 6,000 sq-ft yard. I was able to get rid of 95% of zoysia in some spots and maybe 70% in other spots. I do have a couple of "bare" spots where all grass completely died but I'm sure my bermuda will grow into those next spring. I'm satisfied with those treatments and I'm sure if left it untreated, Zoysia was slowly but surely taking over my bermuda in those specific areas.

It looks like next year I have to also apply a couple treatments to maybe 200 to 300 sq-ft of my yard to completely get rid of the zoysia. I'm happy with the results and want to thank everyone who helped me here on this forum specially @Movingshrub & @Greendoc!


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## Movingshrub (Jun 12, 2017)

:thumbup:


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## Awar (Feb 25, 2019)

*2020:*

I'm updating this thread with the 2020 treatments & results. I applied at the same rates only this time using my Ryobi 2 gal. Sprayer with TeeJet mod.

*July 17, 2020*:


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## Awar (Feb 25, 2019)

Update:

*July 19, 2020 (T + 2 days):*

You can clearly see the impact on sprayed areas:


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## Awar (Feb 25, 2019)

Update:

*July 21, 2020 (T + 4 days):


July 24, 2020 (T + 7 days):


July 26, 2020 (T + 9 days):


July 28, 2020 (T + 11 days):
*


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## ENC_Lawn (Sep 9, 2018)

@Awar Nice progress!

I would guess the Bermuda should take over those areas now?


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## Awar (Feb 25, 2019)

@ENC_Lawn I will have to do a second app next week (at 3 weeks) to hopefully kill as much zoysia as possible and then bermuda would recover and fill in. From my experience last year this is going to be a long (multi-year) process, probably because I'm not blanket spraying like @Greendoc recommended!


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## ENC_Lawn (Sep 9, 2018)

@Awar Any updates?


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## Awar (Feb 25, 2019)

@ENC_Lawn I'm about 12 days after my 2nd app for the season. This time I think I wasn't very consistent with my spray and I can see what appears to be oversprayed areas from overlapping I think.

I have some injured & dead bermuda and that needs time to recover but the good news is I don't see much Zoysia in the areas I sprayed. I did find a 2x2 or so area that I completely missed so I should spray it in the next opportunity.

I don't have time lapse pictures but here are a couple after yesterday's late mow. You can see the "brown" areas are where I'm treating the Zoysia.


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## ENC_Lawn (Sep 9, 2018)

@Awar Thats awesome the treatment seems to be working on the Zoysia.

I have some spots that I may try this on next year in my Bermuda lawn.


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## richardn (Jun 6, 2018)

@Awar any updates from this year?


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## Awar (Feb 25, 2019)

richardn said:


> @Awar any updates from this year?


@richardn the zoysia spots shrunk significantly and bermuda took over most of those patches, specially after treatments over the past 2 years along with reel mowing at less than 3/4" for the 2nd season now... They haven't bothered me enough to go out and treat them again but I think I should do one or two rounds this season to declare success.

I'll be traveling overseas for almost 20 days later in July so I'll probably just hit them before I go and then decide after I come back whether a second treatment is needed. Except I'll be more worried about my overgrown lawn at that time :roll:


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