# New sod project - Zeon, Zenith, or Zorro Zoysia??



## Martin (Aug 30, 2020)

So, I have Bermuda in the front and it's looking pretty good after a couple of years of TLC.

The back, is another story. I want to start fresh and get sod down in the next month or two.

Here's what I've got and would like in the end.

- I'm in Columbus, GA (west central GA, zone 8a, hot, humid summers, 30s in winter)
- About 2300 sqft
- these are small patches of grass, no big areas
- lots of shaded areas from pines, trees and palm trees
- a big section is on a decent slope, used to have no grass growing here, but took down 3 birches last year and have a lot more sun coming in

My ideal order of cultivar
1.) needs to be shade tolerant
2,) recover quick, I have 2 large dogs (don't dig, but they're big)
3.) the look. I'm used to northern grasses of Indiana, and would like something very green and lush, does that mean a finer or a wider blade? I don't know. I do know my wife is not a big fan of Bermuda for its little tree like look. I personally don't like the look of Centipede.

So all that said, I've narrowed down on Zoysia, found a dealer that has Zeon or Zenith. I've been reading info on the web for a few days now, but seems I keep getting myself more confused.

Dealer is Supersod.com, they also sell those yellow bags of compost soil. $2,300 for 2,500sqft Zenith and 4 yards of soils doesn't sound to bad to me.

What do the experts think?


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## Martin (Aug 30, 2020)

Thanks ENC_Lawn. I've got a rotary mower. Probably wouldn't change anytime soon.


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## Martin (Aug 30, 2020)

This is one of the areas. You see a lot of shade from the palms. There's also a Crepe Myrtle in the middle of the patch of grass, I'm considering just cutting it out this year.


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## ENC_Lawn (Sep 9, 2018)

Martin said:


> Thanks ENC_Lawn. I've got a rotary mower. Probably wouldn't change anytime soon.


Sorry I deleted post and just now got chance to respond.

Yes if you are mowing with a Rotary...I would choose Zenith. Zenith can looks good cut with a reel mower and can look good with a rotary.

With a reel mower only...I would go with Zeon.

Hope this helps!


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## Martin (Aug 30, 2020)

This is the steep slope, you can see some of the leftover from the birches I cut down. Gets a ton more sun now, but there are still 2 big pines in the middle of it.


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## ENC_Lawn (Sep 9, 2018)

@Martin Shade and grass don't go together too good.

You may have too look at other options for the shaded areas.


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## Martin (Aug 30, 2020)

Last grouping of pics, these are smaller walkways, lots of shade, not expecting anything too amazing, but would like more grass than I have today just to keep dogs from tracking through dirt here.


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## Martin (Aug 30, 2020)

ENC_Lawn said:


> @Martin Shade and grass don't go together too good.
> 
> You may have too look at other options for the shaded areas.


Understood. Though there is some grass, it's Bermuda mostly which I understand needs loads of sun. So my hope is with something more tolerable I can create a beautiful space and a better place for my dogs to lay around.

I've cut down and back a lot of the trees that provided shade, so the hope is there's something that can be done here.


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## atticus (Dec 30, 2021)

If you can find a supplier that has Zorro, I put that in my backyard and have been happy. I have an area that gets more shade than I would like from a big magnolia but the grass doesn't seem to mind. It is a fine blade, but gets nice and green. The wear tolerance with any zoysia is going to be worse than Bermuda, but I have two boys and a medium/large dog that haven't done any noticeable harm to the yard. For reference I'm near Atlanta.


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## ENC_Lawn (Sep 9, 2018)

The Zorro Zoysia is beautiful and I am going off memory...but I think its pretty good for shade tolerance.

You might could give Zorro a try.


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## Twodollarblue (May 26, 2020)

@Martin You mentioned quick recovery from two dogs; do you mean just paw traffic in general or are we talking from them peeing on it? If we are talking about pee you aren't going to be happy with Zoysia's recovery time. I have one big dog and one small dog, I stay after them with a watering can early in the year and give up by the end. I also try to plug the problems earlier in the year but never keep up. Just something to think about.


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## Martin (Aug 30, 2020)

atticus said:


> If you can find a supplier that has Zorro, I put that in my backyard and have been happy. I have an area that gets more shade than I would like from a big magnolia but the grass doesn't seem to mind. It is a fine blade, but gets nice and green. The wear tolerance with any zoysia is going to be worse than Bermuda, but I have two boys and a medium/large dog that haven't done any noticeable harm to the yard. For reference I'm near Atlanta.


I'll have to check that out and see if I can find it around here, what should I exo3ct price wise? Zenith seems pretty low cost vs Zeon.


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## Martin (Aug 30, 2020)

Twodollarblue said:


> @Martin You mentioned quick recovery from two dogs; do you mean just paw traffic in general or are we talking from them peeing on it? If we are talking about pee you aren't going to be happy with Zoysia's recovery time. I have one big dog and one small dog, I stay after them with a watering can early in the year and give up by the end. I also try to plug the problems earlier in the year but never keep up. Just something to think about.


The latter, it's like having 2 full grown humans using the back as their bathroom!


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## Alphaone (11 mo ago)

if you're trying to get something that looks like grass from the north, the Zeon is gonna match better. personally i'm not a big fan of the zenith, i've seen it struggle in the shade, and it just doesn't hold color well unless you feed the crap out of it. i would say use St. Augustine it does well in the shade, but its not very traffic tolerant. so you've probably made the best choice choosing Zoysia. but i'd pick one of the fine blade varieties if you're looking for something that reminds you of cool season grass. Zenith is cheap and its used a lot, but there are many turf farms around, you can look at The Sod Source, NG Turf, Sodmasters, in the central GA area and get quotes, they do vary on price.


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## Redtwin (Feb 9, 2019)

Saint Augustine would probably do the best regarding the shade but it fails miserably at the "looks like cool-season grass" test. Bermuda is out of the question but I'm not too sure about any of the zoysias either. Some cultivars may be able to survive in shade but they certainly won't thrive. You also have to consider the disease pressure with the limited air flow in some of those tighter walkway areas.


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## Martin (Aug 30, 2020)

Alphaone said:


> if you're trying to get something that looks like grass from the north, the Zeon is gonna match better. personally i'm not a big fan of the zenith, i've seen it struggle in the shade, and it just doesn't hold color well unless you feed the crap out of it. i would say use St. Augustine it does well in the shade, but its not very traffic tolerant. so you've probably made the best choice choosing Zoysia. but i'd pick one of the fine blade varieties if you're looking for something that reminds you of cool season grass. Zenith is cheap and its used a lot, but there are many turf farms around, you can look at The Sod Source, NG Turf, Sodmasters, in the central GA area and get quotes, they do vary on price.


This is good info and exactly what I needed to know. A picture online is not worth anything, and I don't really know where I can see the cultivars in real life. Looks like I'm down to Zeon vs Zorro.


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## Martin (Aug 30, 2020)

Redtwin said:


> Saint Augustine would probably do the best regarding the shade but it fails miserably at the "looks like cool-season grass" test. Bermuda is out of the question but I'm not too sure about any of the zoysias either. Some cultivars may be able to survive in shade but they certainly won't thrive. You also have to consider the disease pressure with the limited air flow in some of those tighter walkway areas.


My main goal is having good grass at the main areas, the smaller walkways are more trial and error, if it takes and stays decent, hey that's a win.


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## ionicatoms (Mar 8, 2020)

@CenlaLowell pointed this out recently. I haven't seen it but it sounds pretty interesting.

https://www.outsidepride.com/seed/grass-seed/fescue-grass-seed/combat-extreme-southern-zone.html


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## atticus (Dec 30, 2021)

Martin said:


> atticus said:
> 
> 
> > If you can find a supplier that has Zorro, I put that in my backyard and have been happy. I have an area that gets more shade than I would like from a big magnolia but the grass doesn't seem to mind. It is a fine blade, but gets nice and green. The wear tolerance with any zoysia is going to be worse than Bermuda, but I have two boys and a medium/large dog that haven't done any noticeable harm to the yard. For reference I'm near Atlanta.
> ...


I looked back at my quote, it was $550/pallet including grading, soil prep, and installation.


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## Rowdy (Apr 3, 2020)

So we had Zeon installed last March and we love it. It only gets about 4-5 hrs of sun then gets shaded out by the house and it's done very well. The good thing about Zeon is the minimal amount of fertilizer and water it needs. One piece of advice we learned the hard way is to be VERY specific in what prep work you're looking for during installation and exactly how you want it done. I told our sod installer that I wanted to reel mow my yard and to get it as flat as possible. In my head, I meant that I wanted the entire yard graded...what he heard was "just use a roller and get it flat." So now I'm looking at a few sand leveling jobs before I can even entertain the idea of reel mowing. Last year I maintained at 1.5"-2" due to the sod settling and unevenness. I think you would like Zeon as it is a true barefoot grass. Just go easy on the fert and water or else you'll be battling disease issues.


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## Martin (Aug 30, 2020)

atticus said:


> Martin said:
> 
> 
> > atticus said:
> ...


That sounds really good for all inclusive. I'm thinking of doing it myself, so just having sod delivered.


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## Martin (Aug 30, 2020)

Rowdy said:


> So we had Zeon installed last March and we love it. It only gets about 4-5 hrs of sun then gets shaded out by the house and it's done very well. The good thing about Zeon is the minimal amount of fertilizer and water it needs. One piece of advice we learned the hard way is to be VERY specific in what prep work you're looking for during installation and exactly how you want it done. I told our sod installer that I wanted to reel mow my yard and to get it as flat as possible. In my head, I meant that I wanted the entire yard graded...what he heard was "just use a roller and get it flat." So now I'm looking at a few sand leveling jobs before I can even entertain the idea of reel mowing. Last year I maintained at 1.5"-2" due to the sod settling and unevenness. I think you would like Zeon as it is a true barefoot grass. Just go easy on the fert and water or else you'll be battling disease issues.


Awesome love to hear it. One more marker for Zeon. Really thinking Zenith is out at this point.

I was planning on doing work myself, just having sod delivered. To your point, it's so hard to find good work and many times I've regretted not taking on a project myself.

That said, we've got a local place that offers sandy loam for $25 a cubic yard, top soil for $36 (would have some rocks, it's literally just top layer of dirt scooped up) and what I consider compost for $36 (this is screened top soil with some wood shreds/mulch added). So far my research has led me to believe that I want some mix of this. 6 yards delivered for $50.

I have mostly tough clay with a light layer of topsoil. Tilling it sounds ideal, but I have a lot of sprinklers and wires for lighting all over the back. I would be concerned I'd cause more damage. Also a lot of roots from palms and trees. I thought of using a manual aerator (Corona) to plug some holes, then add sandy loam, then some compost. So 3-6 cubic yards of sandy loam and 3-6 cubic yards of compost over a somewhat aerated base I have now. What do you all think?


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## atticus (Dec 30, 2021)

Martin said:


> That sounds really good for all inclusive. I'm thinking of doing it myself, so just having sod delivered.


It was a pretty good amount of sod and generally the more you order the better the price. I had contemplated doing it myself but we had it installed about a month after having a new baby and moving into a new house so I opted to give myself a break. They did a decent job, but if I had it to do over again, I would have just waited 6 months or so for life to return to normal-ish and done it myself. Not many contractors are going to be as meticulous as you would be yourself. Looking forward to this season and to leveling out some of the sod lines that have been bugging me since they put it in.


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## jayhawk (Apr 18, 2017)

Looks like an epic back yard

I prefer my zeon (geo, zorro for that matter). Have to second what redtwin said. To add ...Rotary plus big dogs on areas that are boarderline perhaps on sun? Dunno

Sounds like you're on it ...I'd bring a lot of dirt. Looks like runoff left u with roots and the look of a hard top.

I havent done much digging into but NG Turf is now selling a bluegrass hybrid for the south. Sodchick (Twitter) works for ngturf out of Columbus ...


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## Martin (Aug 30, 2020)

jayhawk said:


> Looks like an epic back yard
> 
> I prefer my zeon (geo, zorro for that matter). Have to second what redtwin said. To add ...Rotary plus big dogs on areas that are boarderline perhaps on sun? Dunno
> 
> ...


Thank you, the backyard is really why we bought the house in the first place, we'll the pool really. The people that put in the pool and designed the yard did an amazing job, there are landscape lights hidden everywhere. It's just been neglected for a few years by the owners prior to us. Now I'm just trying to bring it back to its former glory.

Looks like I'm finding quotes for $2,100-2,600 for 2,500sqft delivered, with Zorro being slightly less than Zeon. Boy that's a tough decision.

Do you think I need to bring in 1 or 2 inches of dirt?


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## Alphaone (11 mo ago)

the more dirt you bring in the bettter, with all them exposed roots, and the hill you're gonna lose some to runoff so you'll want a thicker base to account for loss while the sod establishes


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## jayhawk (Apr 18, 2017)

Martin said:


> Last grouping of pics, these are smaller walkways, lots of shade, not expecting anything too amazing, but would like more grass than I have today just to keep dogs from tracking through dirt here.


Tennessee flagstone steps and mondo is my first thought for there....not cheap but low stress, maintenance


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## jayhawk (Apr 18, 2017)

I'd get enough for 2", 1 is barely anything after a year settling...some areas might need more and others less? Did I miss... irrigation, not that I'd be need much but is handy !

Gutter drainage dialed in (running out of yard)?


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## Martin (Aug 30, 2020)

jayhawk said:


> Martin said:
> 
> 
> > Last grouping of pics, these are smaller walkways, lots of shade, not expecting anything too amazing, but would like more grass than I have today just to keep dogs from tracking through dirt here.
> ...


Interesting, that might have to be my fallback plan


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## Martin (Aug 30, 2020)

jayhawk said:


> I'd get enough for 2", 1 is barely anything after a year settling...some areas might need more and others less? Did I miss... irrigation, not that I'd be need much but is handy !
> 
> Gutter drainage dialed in (running out of yard)?


Ok, good point, 2" it is then!

Got sprinkler system set up there.

No gutters, just all runs down the hill.


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## Martin (Aug 30, 2020)

Alphaone said:


> if you're trying to get something that looks like grass from the north, the Zeon is gonna match better. personally i'm not a big fan of the zenith, i've seen it struggle in the shade, and it just doesn't hold color well unless you feed the crap out of it. i would say use St. Augustine it does well in the shade, but its not very traffic tolerant. so you've probably made the best choice choosing Zoysia. but i'd pick one of the fine blade varieties if you're looking for something that reminds you of cool season grass. Zenith is cheap and its used a lot, but there are many turf farms around, you can look at The Sod Source, NG Turf, Sodmasters, in the central GA area and get quotes, they do vary on price.


Any experience with The Sod Source? Sounds like a good price, just want to gauge quality.


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## Alphaone (11 mo ago)

Martin said:


> Alphaone said:
> 
> 
> > if you're trying to get something that looks like grass from the north, the Zeon is gonna match better. personally i'm not a big fan of the zenith, i've seen it struggle in the shade, and it just doesn't hold color well unless you feed the crap out of it. i would say use St. Augustine it does well in the shade, but its not very traffic tolerant. so you've probably made the best choice choosing Zoysia. but i'd pick one of the fine blade varieties if you're looking for something that reminds you of cool season grass. Zenith is cheap and its used a lot, but there are many turf farms around, you can look at The Sod Source, NG Turf, Sodmasters, in the central GA area and get quotes, they do vary on price.
> ...


ask me in about a month, i plan to buy 4 pallets of St. Aug from The Sod Source on april 1st and install it over that weekend. they gave me a good price and not an outrageous delivery cost.


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## SouthernTiftuf (12 mo ago)

Alphaone said:


> Martin said:
> 
> 
> > Alphaone said:
> ...


I'm also interested in seeing their quality. When I was shopping my bermuda sod they had a really good price. I have some photos from last summer of their bermuda and zoysia but I've never seen it in person.


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## Alphaone (11 mo ago)

i'll be sure to take pictures of not only the pallets delivered, but the grass when its all been installed and post them here


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## Alphaone (11 mo ago)

My sod from The Sod Source came i today. There was decent communication between them and myself to get the pallets dropped where I wanted and to make payment. Its still a bit dormant, I was hoping it would have been a bit greener since they are south of my location. Attached are pictures of the sod on pallets, tomorrow I will post pictures of it laid to see what the turf under the top layer looks like.


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## Martin (Aug 30, 2020)

Looks nice! Keep us posted!


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## Martin (Aug 30, 2020)

So I can add a sandy loam or "masters mix" which is screened top soil with some wood shavings and compost added, think a bag of garden soil.

I am told the sandy loam is easy to work with to level and many contractors use just that. I'm thinking now would be good time to include some organic material. Do I mix the 2 up? What ratio? At first I though 1:1, now I'm leaning more to 2:1, 2 arts sandy loam, 1 part top soil. I'll get 12 yards to get a good 2 inches, so 8 yards sandy loam and 4 yards top soil.

Thoughts?

This is the sandy loam


This is the top soil


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## Alphaone (11 mo ago)

Got it all laid today. There was a few pieces of Italian rye, clover and some poa in a maybe 10 total pieces of sod. Went from this




To this




Overall im relatively pleased with the quality of the sod and the way the company communicated .


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## Martin (Aug 30, 2020)

Awesome, glad to hear it. I gotta say communication I've had with The Sod Group has been great, clear, and straight forward.


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