# From weeds to Carpet this Meyers ZOYSIA!



## Nkoehn22 (Aug 21, 2017)

I started my Zoysia yard renovation in 2015, I was skeptical about grass plugs after my Bermuda grass got overrun with weeds I decided to give zoysia plugs it a try. It's now two full years later and I couldn't be happier with my front yard. It's going so well I was able to pull plugs from the front yard and transplant to the backyard. I had the same issue with weeds over taking Bermuda in the spring. Living in southern Virginia and having shorter and warmer winters weeds get a jump on Bermuda grass. I'm done with that type of grass and a zoysia fan for life. Here are a few pictures of what it was to what it currently is!


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## Nkoehn22 (Aug 21, 2017)




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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

Nkoehn22 said:


> ...my Bermuda grass got overrun with weeds...
> ...I had the same issue with weeds over taking Bermuda in the spring...


Welcome to TLF!

With the bermuda, which pre-emergent were using, when were you applying it, and at what rate?


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## jayhawk (Apr 18, 2017)

Takes patience for sure....but that's impressive - thanks for the before n after images.

I'm also 'done' with berumda


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## Redtenchu (Jan 28, 2017)

Awesome! I'm glad it all worked out! How long did it take to plant all those plugs? I'm guessing you ordered them online?


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## Iriasj2009 (Feb 15, 2017)

Nkoehn22 said:


>


Awesome!!


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## Nkoehn22 (Aug 21, 2017)

Yeah I bought them, from Zoysia farms in Marland. I planted the front all by myself, came in rolls of sod that were pre-cut to 1'' x 1'' inch plugs. Doing it myself I had to cut the plugs, drill the holes and plant the plugs. It took me about a month to get the entire front yard done. I also could only plant for a hour at night after work. I had to make 2-3 orders since I planted little larger plugs closer together for faster coverage. After planting they go into shock and after about a week or two you start to notice new blades starting to grow. The first year was all about establishment, and getting good root system in place. I used an all purpose plant food from Miracle Grow in spray form every 2 weeks to promote root growth and in the fall I seeded with Rye grass to help prevent soil run off when it rained hard and to help prevent weeds from growing in. The follow summer it took until late summer, early fall to get solid coverage. Now I'm in my Second full growing season, 3rd since establishment in the front and its looking great! Now its to the point where i was able to pull plugs from the front and transplant to backyard.This time I purchased a 5-1 Pro Plugger help me out and save time. the Plugs are 2'' in diameter and I have the option to do 2'', or 4'' in depth. The plugger comes with two metal rings to adjust the size. In the tube it will fit 15-20 plugs, once its full just flip its outside down to empty. I also purchased a 2 ft long auger bit that attaches to my drill. Honestly the part that took the longest was to cut up the plugs from sod and pulling the plugs for the back. When I did the backyard I had a few friends come over and help out, and we got half the backyard done. The following two Saturdays I finished the backyard, and that was in early July. Now I'm almost two months along and the plugs are doing well, but i'm now consistently pulling weeds out. From Crabgrass, Nuts Edge and some sort of grassy weed. I'll post a picture of them ASAP. Can anyone help me treat these weeds. Whats the earliest i can spray for weeds without hurting the plugs?

Thanks,

Nathan In Virginia


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## Nkoehn22 (Aug 21, 2017)

Can anyone help me with identification and how to kill these weeds off without hurting my new plugs?


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## Nkoehn22 (Aug 21, 2017)

Thinking of purchasing this roller soon to help me dominate the neighborhood! 
Nathan in Va


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## dfw_pilot (Jan 28, 2017)

Nkoehn22 said:


> Living in southern Virginia and having shorter and warmer winters weeds get a jump on Bermuda grass.


I'm not sure I follow. With good input from a pre-emergent herbicide and a quality post emergent herbicide, you're weeds won't stand a chance, no matter what type of grass you grow. Zoysia may be in my future some day too, but due to shade, not weeds.

Either way, the Zoysia looks great and welcome to TLF!


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## jayhawk (Apr 18, 2017)

hmmm....I don't have first hand experience with the rotary and striper. I know I'd work well a cool season grass as they are easiest to stripe. However, I'm not sure the rotary and roller are heavy enough on a warm season.

Have you considered a homeowner (McLane, Cal Trimmer, TruCut) reel with a roller, that'd take domination up a level (no shortage of examples in the forums) and your Meyers would thank you too.


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## Nkoehn22 (Aug 21, 2017)

I'll look into that, but the roller I posed pictures on is 20-25 pounds and has gotten good reviews. I would like a reel mower but they're to expensive for me. Raising two kids, daycare expense and everything else that's not really in the budget right now.


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## Nkoehn22 (Aug 21, 2017)

dfw_pilot we had a milder winter here in Virginia, and I put down pre-emergent herbicide to late in the spring and was doomed. Now a few weeks ago I did put my first pre-emergent herbicide down in Scott's Halts Crabgrass & Grassy Weed Preventer. and watered on right away and will do again this fall.


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## dfw_pilot (Jan 28, 2017)

Ok, that makes more sense. It sounded like you thought it was the bermuda's fault. :mrgreen:

As you now know, the key on pre-e is to get it down at the right time, and not a day too late. FYI, I've had poor results with Halts, but Dimension has done very well. Another good option is Prodiamine, but it's a WDG, meaning you need a sprayer for it, not a spreader. Let us know how the Halts does.


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## Colonel K0rn (Jul 4, 2017)

Nkoehn22 said:


> Can anyone help me with identification and how to kill these weeds off without hurting my new plugs?


This is goosegrass. Sulfentrazone will do the trick.


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## Nkoehn22 (Aug 21, 2017)

This past weekend I applied Sedge Ender Weed Killer In a small 2' x 2' test area in my backyard that I plugged in early July. I posted some of the weeds above. I'm hopeful that this will help control these weeds these weeds until my Zoysia fills in.
Has anyone used this product and been very successful with it?


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## Still learnin (Sep 9, 2017)

How many plugs per sq/ft did you plant initially?

I am considering starting either zoysia or Bermuda in part of my yard and slowly doing the rest. I have over 36k sq/ft so it may take a bit!


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## Nkoehn22 (Aug 21, 2017)

It started out with 3,000 plugs for the front yard. I bought them from zoysia farms out of Maryland. They come is 2ft pieces of sod scored in 1"x1" I was need up having thenpligs be a little larger than that. I ended up planting about 5,000 in the front yard. About 6" apart. I started mid July and ended mid August. The plugs go into shock for a week or two and turn brown, then come back with new growth. Just water it good twice a day for the first few weeks. I also used miracle grows all purpose planet food granular form to hose sprayer and sprayed it down every two weeks. If you have the time, and patients it's well worth it in the end. Zoysia farms also sells an auger bit that's about 3ft long they can go into your cordless drill and It's about $40. It made a huge difference planting, goes by much faster. I've battled with seed and it just doesn't take as good as the plugs. The first year its roots, the second year it sends out runners to fill in, 3rd year it takes off and is carpet thick with little to no weeds. This grass chokes it out over time. This past July I just took plugs from the front and planted them in the back. These are a little larger 2" and root quickly and send out runners within a month. I'll post pictures of the current status within a day or two. I also bought a 5 in 1 plugger that has many uses. I was able to pull 15-25 plugs in this tube at a time depending on 2" or 4" size. After in was done planting I filled in the holes with topsoil, one month later you couldn't tell plugs were pulled.

Nathan in VA


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## Iriasj2009 (Feb 15, 2017)

This is impressive!


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## Nkoehn22 (Aug 21, 2017)

Thanks, lots of hard work went into it! Current Pics as of Saturday September 23, 2017


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## Still learnin (Sep 9, 2017)

Yes that is extremely impressive. Looks like a lot work, but your yard looks awesome.


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## Nkoehn22 (Aug 21, 2017)

So my zoysia in the front yard is about 85 to 90 percent out of dormancy and i've mowed it twice so far. The plugs that I planted last July have pretty much greened up, and the runners are starting to spread. I've battled a lot of annual blue grass in the backyard and with the advice of The Lawn Care Nut i've dramatically improved that problem. I applied two applications of Celsius six weeks apart using the max applications both times and man that helped out tremendously. The last spray application was done in mid April so I should see some sort of results soon, especially with the warm weather kicking in. My next project is to start pulling plugs once the front has fully greened up and filling in the area where out late pet did her thing. I'm hoping to see a lot progress with my backyard filling in this season, so I can actually set back and relax and enjoy it.

Here is my photostream of my yard projects!

https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B09G6XBubNDtp


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## SCGrassMan (Dec 17, 2017)

Man, if I keep having bare spots with my Zeon I'm putting this stuff in. Looks great! How does it hold up to neighborhood dog pee?


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## Nkoehn22 (Aug 21, 2017)

If you water down the dog pee down right away, its pretty good and you don't see any dead spots. I have a few spots to repair because of dog owners not caring about people property. I did put up a few signs out to please be respectful with your pet last summer. I did get complemented on my yard and people were asking what I did to make it look so good. It's obvious to who takes care of their yard and who doesn't. I wish people would respect those people who take the time, put in hard work, money and effort to make their yard look good.


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## SCGrassMan (Dec 17, 2017)

Nkoehn22 said:


> If you water down the dog pee down right away, its pretty good and you don't see any dead spots. I have a few spots to repair because of dog owners not caring about people property. I did put up a few signs out to please be respectful with your pet last summer. I did get complemented on my yard and people were asking what I did to make it look so good. It's obvious to who takes care of their yard and who doesn't. I wish people would respect those people who take the time, put in hard work, money and effort to make their yard look good.


In my experience they just don't know honestly. Mine if I water it in, its fine as well, but I don't generally see it.

For awhile I had masonry string and stakes out when I first got the sod RE DONE, but I couldn't really keep it out forever.

I've thought about putting one of those little snarky "no dumping" signs out, but I really don't want to be "that guy". I also thought about getting an outdoor facing camera and just addressing it with those particular people.

Will it grow back better if I cut the dead part out in the center, or if I leave it do you think?


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## Nkoehn22 (Aug 21, 2017)

I will grow back just takes a while. I have no shame putting out a sign! If I could I'd love to put a fence out front to help prevent that issue. The whole camera idea is good, I just wanted a cheaper option to start with. These pics are just a few minute ago.


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## Still learnin (Sep 9, 2017)

That's lookong great.


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