# Zeon Zoysia Lateral Spread



## sanders4617 (Jul 9, 2018)

I love this grass cultivar. Beautiful - and I get why it is one of the more expensive types.

For those of you who have it, I'd love some feedback on the growth rate and lateral spread of Zeon. I've thought about doing a slow process of converting some of my yard to this grass, but I have no intentions on buying a lot of sod to do so. If it takes me 2-3 years, I guess that's just fine.

Has anyone tried sprigging/stolonizing Zeon Zoysia from their own yard?

And last.. I'd love to see pictures of you guys' Zeon!


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## JollyGreen (May 12, 2018)

I will give you an overview of my thoughts with my first year with Zeon.

My Zeon was installed last August 2017 so this was my first full year of growth. Overall I am happy with it as I like the feel and look of it but would like for the growth to be much quicker. The overall growth is extremely slow, even during the middle of the summer. This causes issues if there are any problem areas where the grass dies, weeds are killed, or the grass thins out due to standing water. The areas will not repair and close quickly like they do with Bermuda or any other grass. This forces you to plug any damaged areas which still takes a long time to fully repair.

Cutting:
I cut at 1-1/4" with a reel mower. This is the lowest I can go as I still need to sand to level many of the areas. During the summer I try to cut twice a week to keep the growth going and get it to fill in as quickly as possible. Technically you could probably get away with cutting once as it grows so slow. You will not need PGR with this.

Growth/Lateral Spread:
As mentioned above, Zeon grows very slowly. Any damage will take a while to fill in. I couldn't imagine growing from plugs. It would take forever based of my past year experience. In the areas that are full sun, the grass is thick. In the more shade areas (and even some sun areas) it is thin to where you can see the dirt. I just did not see much lateral growth this year but I feel as though it may be to compacted soils. This is my focus point going into next year applying Air8 and other means.

Issues:
I had a late season hit with armyworms in late August. I went out of town and came back to 3/4 of my back yard brown and thinned out. I hit it with nitrogen and brought it back as best I could but it is still thin in many areas that were once thick. Many of those that have Bermuda that got hit were able to fully recover due to the quickness of growth.

I have noticed that the areas that are sloped and drain very well look the best. If you have any low areas where standing water is I would resolve that prior to laying the sod. The left side of my yard has an inlet and the grass around it and above the drainage area is doin great. The other side of the yard where there is not drain is struggling.

Below are some pictures. I am far from an expert and learning on here every day but hope I can take this years worth of knowledge and improve next year.

They loaded out of order by timeline but I added notes below.



October 2018 - new mulch for the winter



Spring 2018 - thinning over the winter. This is the low area where the water flows to. We'd to add a drain.



Summer 2018 - fungus issue (before armyworms)



Summer 2018 - all good



September 2018 - thinning due to armyworm damage



October 2018 - dirt slide due to hurricane. Covered grass and grass never recovered.



August 2018 - armyworm damage



September 2017 - new sod/retaining wall during back yard renovation



Summer 2018 - all good



Summer 2018 - all good



Summer 2018 - all good. This is the low area I need to work on.



Summer 2018 - 1 week before armyworms



October 2018



Summer 2018 - all good



October 2018


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## sanders4617 (Jul 9, 2018)

Thanks! Well, not much encouragement to go the Zeon route. It is very beautiful grass however. But just doesn't fill in fast enough. When it is healthy, that's some good looking turf.

And those sod farms love it too.. and I get it.. takes a long time to grow in. So you gotta charge more.


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## Movingshrub (Jun 12, 2017)

Study concerning different zoysia cultivars and their rate of establishment.

https://www.agry.purdue.edu/turfnew/report/2004/p43.pdf


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## samjonester (May 13, 2018)

Not sure if this is the right place...

How does the rate of lateral spread for zoysia compare to KBG? Watching zoysia take over adjacent (cool season) properties in my neighborhood highlights the density once it's begun to creep. Out of curiosity, does it faster or slower than KBG


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## sanders4617 (Jul 9, 2018)

I don't know for sure, but I've always heard KBG was the slowest of the bunch. @samjonester


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## sanders4617 (Jul 9, 2018)

Movingshrub said:


> Study concerning different zoysia cultivars and their rate of establishment.
> 
> https://www.agry.purdue.edu/turfnew/report/2004/p43.pdf


Awesome! El Toro is the way to go if you want fastest healing/spread.

Now I wonder if there is similar study with Bermuda, done with same measurements.


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## BenC (Mar 27, 2018)

@sanders4617 
I tried to pm you back with photos but doesn't look like it went through. I've experienced the above slow growth with zeon. However, I'm learning how to get it moving quicker. I had two spots that got fertilizer burn/kill right after sodding. Niether of them looked like they would recover, I sand top dressed one of the areas and it filled in completely, the other spot is still bare. I put in a bunch of plugs and again, they were not spreading very fast until I sand topdressed them and then they really took off, almost filled in 100%. Another area, I put zeon sprigs and top dressed and it filled in a pretty good size area. I've only had the grass for the season, so all of this "trial and error" was done this season. Bottom line, I don't think it tacks down real well and the sand topdressing alleviates that problem to a large degree. I'd like to try some other stuff to really crank it up in 2019. Damn zeon sod is too expensive for my acre of lawn, good thing I had the sprinkler guys put two or three extra sets/zones in adjacent to the sodded areas in preparation for the onslaught of the zeon "blitz" of 2019.


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## Greendoc (Mar 24, 2018)

samjonester said:


> Not sure if this is the right place...
> 
> How does the rate of lateral spread for zoysia compare to KBG? Watching zoysia take over adjacent (cool season) properties in my neighborhood highlights the density once it's begun to creep. Out of curiosity, does it faster or slower than KBG


That Zoysia is probably some cultivar of Japonica. El Toro is a cultivar of Japonica. Its weaknesses include disease attacking during fall transition and the damage appearing in the Spring. Zoysia will take over entire neighborhoods. I have seen it happen. Good thing Tenacity and Pylex will damage it.


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## BenC (Mar 27, 2018)

2.9 MB IMG_0169.JPG Check Error 

That area in red was all sprigs, the area in blue was all plugs. this was taken around april or may 2018


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## sanders4617 (Jul 9, 2018)

@BenC Only 1 of the pictures pulled up on your post.


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

Greendoc said:


> Zoysia will take over entire neighborhoods. I have seen it happen. Good thing Tenacity and Pylex will damage it.


My neighbor 2 doors down is battling it. I give him Tenacity to use for that so it doesn't come here eventually. Grasses with stolons seem more aggressive than other grasses. Poa Triv will take over neighborhoods, too.

What's that new stuff coming out soon that's supposed to selectively kill Zoysia in cool season grasses? I think it whitens it like Tenacity and Pylex...do you know what I mean? I swear it wasn't a dream, but something I read here.


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## Greendoc (Mar 24, 2018)

Nothing new. It is called Amerzon. Same AI as Pylex except bigger bottle and lower price.


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## LowCountryCharleston (Jun 21, 2018)

BenC said:


> @sanders4617
> I tried to pm you back with photos but doesn't look like it went through. I've experienced the above slow growth with zeon. However, I'm learning how to get it moving quicker. I had two spots that got fertilizer burn/kill right after sodding. Niether of them looked like they would recover, I sand top dressed one of the areas and it filled in completely, the other spot is still bare. I put in a bunch of plugs and again, they were not spreading very fast until I sand topdressed them and then they really took off, almost filled in 100%. Another area, I put zeon sprigs and top dressed and it filled in a pretty good size area. I've only had the grass for the season, so all of this "trial and error" was done this season. Bottom line, I don't think it tacks down real well and the sand topdressing alleviates that problem to a large degree. I'd like to try some other stuff to really crank it up in 2019. Damn zeon sod is too expensive for my acre of lawn, good thing I had the sprinkler guys put two or three extra sets/zones in adjacent to the sodded areas in preparation for the onslaught of the zeon "blitz" of 2019.


Hey BenC, forgive the ignorance but what do you mean by you're sand top dressing the plugs? Are you laying sand over each and what does that do to the plug. I ask because I'm really thinking of redoing my salad bar lawn with my new house and all my neighbors have Zoysia so don't want to have to fight that battle using another type of grass. I do like the look and feel so happy to go with it.

Thanks


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## JollyGreen (May 12, 2018)

I would like to know this as well. I would hate to think that the reason the problem areas didn't fill in over the summer is because I didn't put sand down.


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## SCGrassMan (Dec 17, 2017)

Lateral spread - about 3" per year in perfect conditions.


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## BenC (Mar 27, 2018)

Here's the current aerial view taken yesterday morning. I figured that I went from 4381 sqft to 5168 sqft this season without much effort. I reckon maybe about 15% total area increase from plugs and sprigs, give or take maybe 5%.....
Maybe my terminology is bad but, with sprigs I immediately topdress and cover them completely, but just barely. With plugs, I'm really just filling in the areas around and in between the plugs where the stolons are. The stolons run pretty good, but until you cover them with sand they don't do too much lateral branching or blade production in my experience.


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## BenC (Mar 27, 2018)

5.3 MB IMG_0660.JPG Check Error


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## LowCountryCharleston (Jun 21, 2018)

Curious, how does putting sand over the stolons help them grow quicker?


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## BenC (Mar 27, 2018)

idk- maybe one of the turf pros could chime in like @viva_oldtrafford or someone. I'd *guess* it triggers growth hormone synthesis, and ultimately stolon branching and leaf blade production.
I think that's just a long-winded way of saying it enhances rooting potential.


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## BenC (Mar 27, 2018)

that might be just a long winded way saying it enhances rooting potential


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## viva_oldtrafford (Apr 4, 2018)

LowCountryCharleston said:


> Curious, how does putting sand over the stolons help them grow quicker?


Quicker in terms of - you're protecting leaf tips and crowns of a plant that is just starting up. It's not a magic potion that creates a sudden surge in growth... it's just being protected while it's just starting out.


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## LowCountryCharleston (Jun 21, 2018)

viva_oldtrafford said:


> LowCountryCharleston said:
> 
> 
> > Curious, how does putting sand over the stolons help them grow quicker?
> ...


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