# HefeGrass' 2019 zenith zoysia lawn journal



## hefegrass (Mar 20, 2019)

New home with a Zenith Zoysia lawn
We moved in on Dec 7th, missing an opportunity to put down a pre-emergent in the fall. The winter here in NC was extremely wet, hopefully the lawn didnt suffer too much during the winter. 
So now that things are starting to warm up I have a giant patch of poa forming in the front yard. I put down prodiamine on march 2nd and on march 22nd I sprayed Simazine. The lawn is starting to green up and im hoping that once the zoysia is in full swing it will choke out a lot of the weeds. I just bought a reel mower and this is my first attempt at maintaining a warm season lawn.. already benefitting a lot from this forum
please follow along and share and comments or advice, thanks!

Here are some updated current pictures from May 2019


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## hefegrass (Mar 20, 2019)

This is where we started back in march:

here is a pic from my first cut of the year, mainly just took of a layer of dead grass, this photo was taken march 13th, the large weed patch can be clearly seen.


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## hefegrass (Mar 20, 2019)

after treating with simazine, and a current pic of the backyard (very weedy, im hoping once the zoysia is growing again it will knock out a lot of these weeds. I also have trimec southern to spray once the zoysia is healthy and growing. Planning on doing an application of dithiopyr in a week as well.


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## hefegrass (Mar 20, 2019)

pic taken this morning of the front yard..starting to green up !!


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

Anxious to follow your progress!


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## hefegrass (Mar 20, 2019)

here are some more pics of the backyard and side areas of the lawn..lots of weeds








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## hefegrass (Mar 20, 2019)

picked up a little outdoor storage shed to put under the back deck so i can have a place to store all my lawn related items


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## Colonel K0rn (Jul 4, 2017)

Nice start, but you're gonna need a bigger shed


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## hefegrass (Mar 20, 2019)

Colonel K0rn said:


> Nice start, but you're gonna need a bigger shed


i got this size to prevent me from buying too many chemicals.. :lol:

i guess i can always use some of the garage as the sickness grows . :shock:


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## hefegrass (Mar 20, 2019)

I put down some dithiopyr granules (hi yield) today to make up for my half *** job of prodiamine on march 2nd. I also sprayed the perimeter of my house with bifen i/t in hopes that it will take care of the carpenter bees, also spread some bifen l/p granules in the yard and around the natural areas. I also spot treated the poa annua and other weeds in my yard with certainty.
Really hope my grass starts growing soon so i dont have to look at the weeds. Everyone in my neighborhood has fescue and all their lawns look amazing right now.


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## creinle11 (Mar 25, 2019)

Hey @hefegrass I just bought a house in Raleigh last fall as well. This year will be my first year as a homeowner and trying to tackle a lawn. I'm about to start up a journal as well. Good luck! I'm 50/50 weeds and common Bermuda. Trying to promote the Bermuda to spread and take over.


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## hefegrass (Mar 20, 2019)

creinle11 said:


> Hey @hefegrass I just bought a house in Raleigh last fall as well. This year will be my first year as a homeowner and trying to tackle a lawn. I'm about to start up a journal as well. Good luck! I'm 50/50 weeds and common Bermuda. Trying to promote the Bermuda to spread and take over.


nice what part of raleigh are you in? We recently moved out here to Falls of neuse, wake forest area...from the leesville rd. glenwood ave area. We miss leesville area but we love our new house.


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## creinle11 (Mar 25, 2019)

We live off Durant road. In between capital and falls of neuse. We rented a townhouse for a few years off Glennwood heading out towards Brier Creek, but really enjoy the N. Raleigh area now.


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## hefegrass (Mar 20, 2019)

a little more green...expecing a growth spurt over the next couple days with the rain we just got and now going into the 70s 








creinle11 said:


> We live off Durant road. In between capital and falls of neuse. We rented a townhouse for a few years off Glennwood heading out towards Brier Creek, but really enjoy the N. Raleigh area now.


thats very close to the move we made


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## hefegrass (Mar 20, 2019)

finally got around to scalping the section on the other side of the driveway next to the neighbors lawn. Sorta have a reverse domination line going at the moment. The fescue is so nice and green this time of year. Im the only one in the neighborhood that doesnt have fescue and a lawn service, hoping I can reverse this domination line soon


i also got an overhead picture yesterday with the drone..ill take some throughout the summer.


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## hefegrass (Mar 20, 2019)

greening up nicely, the poa patch is dying and the zoysia is starting to show through it


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## hefegrass (Mar 20, 2019)

one more update, greener..less poa


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## hefegrass (Mar 20, 2019)

mowed seed heads and got my first stripes!


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## hefegrass (Mar 20, 2019)

I took a trip to super sod today, I was amazed at how horribly maintained their turf samples were. They had a couple bermudas and a few zoysias and a fescue and a centipede on display. The zenith zoysia looked horrible, way less green than my lawn. The emerald and leisure time zoysia were both thin leaf and looked pretty good, nice and dense, but the area it was laid on was so bumpy, ive never seen an actual yard this bumpy, it was strange. The bermudas looked decent but once again, very bumpy ground. The fescue was so overgrown there were seed heads, the centipede was all black and burnt up, looked like some chemical was poured on it. All of these had a lawnmowing robot maintaining them, except for the fescue which had a boarder around it which blocked the robot. For a showroom that has a single purpose which is to sell grass, im amazed at how bad the turf looked. 
Now unrelated, i added a little color to the backyard today. Stopped by the nursery and bought a couple large planters and flowers and made these for around the fire pit.


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## hefegrass (Mar 20, 2019)

strarting to get thicker. Id like to see it spread some more, there are little holes in the lawn from areas that didnt come back after spring.


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## hefegrass (Mar 20, 2019)

thicker..starting to look like zoysia
still quite thin if viewed from above though
sprayed 16-4-8 liquid fertilizer at a rate of 15oz/M yesterday and i watered it in this morning. I am not sure if this is too much for a liquid app, i guess i will find out in a day or so if i see any discoloration. The urea content in the product i used is only 10% the other 6% is urea triazone..so im hoping it can take it. It may just be my imagination but i swear the lawn has gotten greener and fuller overnight from yesterdays spray.


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## hefegrass (Mar 20, 2019)

a shot of the zenith zoysia seed heads going crazy right now
im due for a mow


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## hefegrass (Mar 20, 2019)

mowed with the reel at 1 7/8"
still waiting on some small spots to fill in , overall seems to be responding well to the spoon feeding the other day


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## hefegrass (Mar 20, 2019)

saw a neighbor down the street apparently put in some sort of sod (seems like a thin bladed zoysia variety) but checkerboarded and is letting it fill in, looks good so far


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## SGrabs33 (Feb 13, 2017)

hefegrass said:


> saw a neighbor down the street apparently put in some sort of sod (seems like a thin bladed zoysia variety) but checkerboarded and is letting it fill in, looks good so far


Oh man that kinda looks cool. Think it may have been started last year? Most Zoysias fill in sloowwwlyyy. Lots of leveling in their future too.


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## hefegrass (Mar 20, 2019)

yes, i dont think it was started recently. I never ride down that road so ive never seen the house before yesterday.
i was thinking the same thing, i wonder if they filled the open areas with dirt after laying the sod piece, im sure a lot of it would end up washing away.


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## SGrabs33 (Feb 13, 2017)

hefegrass said:


> yes, i dont think it was started recently. I never ride down that road so ive never seen the house before yesterday.
> i was thinking the same thing, i wonder if they filled the open areas with dirt after laying the sod piece, im sure a lot of it would end up washing away.


Just imagine having to cut that! With what? A weedwacker I guess.


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## hefegrass (Mar 20, 2019)

The lawn is responding very well to the 16-4-8 I put down last week. I also put down some grub killer and will be putting down some grubex and disease ex in a couple days. Today I blanket sprayed the entire lawn minus the front with certainty at 1.25oz/A rate.



SGrabs33 said:


> hefegrass said:
> 
> 
> > yes, i dont think it was started recently. I never ride down that road so ive never seen the house before yesterday.
> ...


I actually went by there today and the lawn crew was cutting it...with a weed wacker!


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## SGrabs33 (Feb 13, 2017)

Haha, yeah that's about the only I think they can do it at this point.


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## hefegrass (Mar 20, 2019)

finally took the reel mower around back and got the backyard reel low (not that low thoug..1 5/8" currently)


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## hefegrass (Mar 20, 2019)

irrigated the lawn and used some catch cups to figure out how long I need to water to lay down .5"


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## hefegrass (Mar 20, 2019)

after measuring how much i got in each cup, I am noticing that one area top center of my front lawn isnt getting the amount of water the rest of my lawn is getting. I measured 13ml in that one cup vs an average of 25-50 in the other cups, collected over a 10 minute cycle. According to my calculations I need about an hour of watering a week to put down a half inch. Bur with my coverage as it is, I will be putting down a lot more in some spots than others. I need to look into switching out some of the tips on my sprinklers possibly
also did a spoon feeding of 16-4-8 at 10oz/M this morning


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## hefegrass (Mar 20, 2019)

really happy with my4sons sprayer, perfect size for my 4500 sqft of lawn. i can do the whole lawn with one fill. I also really love the brass nozzle it comes with, perfect for spoon feeding


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## hefegrass (Mar 20, 2019)

lilys are blooming


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## hefegrass (Mar 20, 2019)

took the rotary to the back and cut at 1 3/4" ..with all the warm weather we have gotten lately I have really been able to pinpoint the areas where my irrigation isnt covering as well. Fixed some of those areas. We will see how things go over the next few weeks. With the warm temps I am also getting great growth on my zoysia, its really starting to thicken up and beginning to look like a carpet. Filled the lawnmower bag today with one mow of the backyard, definitely more grass growing  The damage in my backyard from too early application of simazine seems to be filling in nicely as well.


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## hefegrass (Mar 20, 2019)

its been so hot im just letting my rachio water pretty much every morning right now

I took a couple shots of the front yard from the side of the house for a lower angle..just a different perspective

also stopped by the checkerboard sod lawn, its filling in slowly but surely.

and my cukes are coming along


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## reidgarner (Jun 18, 2018)

Looks great. Love wide bladed zoysias.


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## hefegrass (Mar 20, 2019)

reidgarner said:


> Looks great. Love wide bladed zoysias.


thanks

had a couple bags of milorganite in the garage so i put those down the other day,..hopefully we finally get a little rain today
noticed i have quite a bit of bermuda invading my front lawn, but it looks ok so im not going to worry about it right now.

saw a neighbor down the street is getting some sod laid today..i asked what kind and the truck driver said it was tiftuf.
ill follow up to see how it goes for them


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## hefegrass (Mar 20, 2019)

took this picture yesterday which shows how my warm season grass took the heat/drought vs the tttf across the street. 
zoysia is due for a cut today, im going to hit it with the reel but not too low


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## hefegrass (Mar 20, 2019)

and after the mow today


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## hefegrass (Mar 20, 2019)

I have a spot in my side yard where my pre-emergent didnt work well (lots of runoff and erosion)and I have what I thought was crabgrass in a bunch of spots in this area. I had a bottle of quinclorac so i mixed up a gallon with some MSO and sprayed the area. After going inside and doing a little more research, it appears that I have goosegrass, not crabgrass..and quinclorac is not effective against goosegrass. 
Yesterday I mixed up 2.5 gallons of celsius / certainty and sprayed most of the yard with it (there arent many weeds, just a few areas with clovers and carolina geranium)..we will see how the lawn takes it over the next few days.
I also put down propiconazole in the form up bayer advanced fungus stuff from the big box stores.

I also put a bunch of tomatillo and tomato seeds to germinate..i know its a bit late in the season but i really want to eat some ground cherries this year


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## hefegrass (Mar 20, 2019)

well those little cucumbers grew up fast
had so many i decided to make some pickles..
already crushed a jar of them .


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## hefegrass (Mar 20, 2019)

quick mow


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## hefegrass (Mar 20, 2019)

different lighting. Thickening up well, still could improve a lot but im about to leave the country for 10 days on friday, hope i have a happy lawn when i return
also harvested a second batch of cucumbers for pickling


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## llO0DQLE (Dec 4, 2017)

hefegrass said:


>


How do you like that Ryobi sprayer? I'm thinking of picking one up. Do you know what the inside diameter is? Or if you have time, if you could check? I just got my DFW wand and wanna make sure the swivel barb will fit.


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## hefegrass (Mar 20, 2019)

llO0DQLE said:


> hefegrass said:
> 
> 
> >
> ...


i honestly dont think its very good. I had to return my first one after one use when the pump started making a horrible grinding noise. I also found that 1 gallon wasnt enough for me in most cases. I use it now for keeping inseciticide in and doing perimeter sprays

im out of the country till the 31st but i can measure it when i get home.


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## hefegrass (Mar 20, 2019)

got home from my trip today and gave the front lawn a trim with the rotary set at about 2"

Itts the best the lawn has looked, in fact my neighbor across the street came over to tell me that this lawn has never looked this good since he has lived there 
looks like my hard work is being noticed 

my edger ran out of juice before i finished cleaning the edges so dont mind the scraggle in the front there


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## llO0DQLE (Dec 4, 2017)

hefegrass said:


> i honestly dont think its very good. I had to return my first one after one use when the pump started making a horrible grinding noise. I also found that 1 gallon wasnt enough for me in most cases. I use it now for keeping inseciticide in and doing perimeter sprays
> 
> im out of the country till the 31st but i can measure it when i get home.


Aside from the first one you returned, what other issues have you noticed with the 2nd one? 1 gallon is perfect for me as my yard is small. In fact, I had a 2 gallon sprayer at first and then got a 1 gallon because it was too much pumping for me as the volumes I spray are around less than a gallon most times.


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## llO0DQLE (Dec 4, 2017)

Grass is looking great btw! Love seeing nice zoysia lawns. I'm a cool season guy and I always wondered about the different warm season grasses before and why everyone seems to go for Bermuda. It's nice to see different grasses esp when the owner makes them look great.


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## hefegrass (Mar 20, 2019)

llO0DQLE said:


> Grass is looking great btw! Love seeing nice zoysia lawns. I'm a cool season guy and I always wondered about the different warm season grasses before and why everyone seems to go for Bermuda. It's nice to see different grasses esp when the owner makes them look great.


thanks!

as far as any other problems with the sprayer, i havent run into any yet on the second unit.


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## llO0DQLE (Dec 4, 2017)

hefegrass said:


> thanks!
> 
> as far as any other problems with the sprayer, i havent run into any yet on the second unit.


Sounds good, I may give it a try. And if you can measure the inside diameter when you have a moment that would be great! Thanks in advance.


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## ThomasPI (May 18, 2019)

Nice job. !


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## hefegrass (Mar 20, 2019)

llO0DQLE said:


> hefegrass said:
> 
> 
> > thanks!
> ...


yes ill get that measurement for you today



ThomasPI said:


> Nice job. !


thanks!

..im really loving the lawn at 2 inches, it has thickened up so much during my 10 day trip


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## hefegrass (Mar 20, 2019)

fresh cut today


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## hefegrass (Mar 20, 2019)

took some drone pics today, neighbors lawns are looking a little rough these days
my zoysia is loving life!


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## Pinecone (Jan 15, 2020)

Hit us up with updates of yours and the neighbor's Zoysia this year.


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## hefegrass (Mar 20, 2019)

Pinecone said:


> Hit us up with updates of yours and the neighbor's Zoysia this year.


I think we only have one other house in the neighborhood with zoysia..and maybe 2 with bermuda. Everyone else has fescue.

I just got out today and did a little "scalp"..although my reel mower is in storage so I really wasnt able to cut it completely down. I think it should be fine..definitely coming in super thick this year. (last year I did too much before greenup and stunted it I think)..this year I just left some dormant grass and it protected the lawn all winter and kept most of weeds out. I will take a few pics and post them up.
should I start a new thread for 2020?


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