# Zenith Zoysia Transition Reno



## Nick Sal (Apr 6, 2021)

So... I am renovating 12,000 square feet of my lawn with Zenith Zoysia seed. My current property has 4500 sf of Meyer zoysia and 12,000 sf of what is currently a fescue salad bar that is non irrigated and in full sun. Needless to say that the fescue has not done well and I've made the decision to go all in on the Zoysia  Below is what I have planned so far for the Reno, as well as my fertilization timeline on the newly seeded portion of the lawn. I'm open to any and all suggestions and plan to post updates as we move through the growing season.

The Lime application, Gypsum and 12-12-12 fertilizer are to correct deficiencies from this years soil test. PH currently is 5.9 with slight phosphorus, potassium, calcium and sulfur deficiencies.

Lawn Renovation 2021
- Lime application 9#s per 1000 sf April 7th
- Gypsum April 13th
- Fertilizer 12-12-12 April 23rd N: .34 P: .34 K: .34
- Glyphosate April 29th (add Fusilade ii to tank mix @ (1/2 oz. per 1000 sq. ft.)(1/2 oz surfactant per gallon) and (1/2 oz Turf Mark Blue per gallon).
- Scalp Yard (bag clippings) May 11th
- De-thatch May 18-19
- Sweeper for cleanup May 18-19
- Aerate yard May 18-19
- Scott's GrubEx May 19th
- Glyphosate as needed May 21st
- Add 6 cubic yards of compost and harley rake May 21st
- Seed zenith zoysia @ 3lbs per 1000 sq ft. (36 lbs. total) with hydroseeder (mix in 14-14-14 and 10-0-2 N: .84 P: .43 K: .51 plus RGS and Humic 12 @ 4oz. per 1000.) May 27th


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## Nick Sal (Apr 6, 2021)

UPDATE:

The lawn has been killed and scalped. I sprayed with glyphosate+fusillade ii on April 29th with great results. I will spray one more time with glyphosate only and then dethatch and aerate. I may have access to a harley rake in a week or two to use after I bring in some top soil to level. So far so good, Hoping for some rain and warmer weather here soon.


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## ENC_Lawn (Sep 9, 2018)

@Spammage is the resident expert.

Zenith is very tricky to get good germination.

2 options in my opinion.

Plug on 6 inch centers from your existing Meyer but that will take 2 seasons to fill in completely. Maybe sooner...???

Or from what I understand a lot of the japonica Zoysia look the same or close enough.

You could seed and also plug to have faster establishment.

Seeding Zenith by itself seems very tricky.

Keep us posted.

Zenith is a beautiful grass in my opinion!


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## Nick Sal (Apr 6, 2021)

Yes I agree it definitely seems like a challenging undertaking. Hopefully I have planned well enough. At this point I am pretty sure I will be able to have the lawn harley raked and I will be hydroseeding the Zenith at 3 lbs per thousand. I bought enough sprinklers, hose and sprinkler timers to keep things moist until germination and then hopefully Drive xlr8 will be a sufficient weed control until the grass is mature enough to treat with Celsius. I will continue to post updates through the summer, keeping my fingers crossed &#129310;


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## dubyadubya87 (Mar 10, 2020)

Zenith is indeed very tricky on germination. I reno'd my centipede to Zenith last spring and probably got 60-75% germination. I think in some instances I raked it in too deep. It's a lot of work, but the self satisfaction of doing it yourself, from seed, to me far outweighs sodding. 
Good luck!


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## Nick Sal (Apr 6, 2021)

dubyadubya87 said:


> Zenith is indeed very tricky on germination. I reno'd my centipede to Zenith last spring and probably got 60-75% germination. I think in some instances I raked it in too deep. It's a lot of work, but the self satisfaction of doing it yourself, from seed, to me far outweighs sodding.
> Good luck!


Your lawn journal is great, I took a lot of good pointers from it. I'm sure this year any bare spots you have will be filled in which is about as good as it gets with zoysia seed! Thanks again!


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## Nick Sal (Apr 6, 2021)

Spreading some compost before we harley rake tonight.


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## dubyadubya87 (Mar 10, 2020)

You are dead-on with your schedule! Eager to see this come together.


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## Nick Sal (Apr 6, 2021)

It was hard work but the yard is bare dirt and as level as I can get it with a leveling tool and landscape rake. The soil is loose for about the first 1.5 inches. I'll get the sprinklers and timers set up tomorrow. Zoysia goes down on Thursday. 🙏 Praying for rain.


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## the_goodz (Mar 1, 2021)

Following! I recently seeded Zenith Zoysia at around 2 lbs per 1k and it came up extremely spotty. I plan on pushing with N to help it spread but watching Zenith grow from seed is as slow as it gets. I am right at a month and the seedlines are all still under an inch. Surprisingly, the shadiest parts of my yard have had the highest germination which contradicts what I read with zoysia being dependent on sunlight for germination.


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## Nick Sal (Apr 6, 2021)

the_goodz said:


> Following! I recently seeded Zenith Zoysia at around 2 lbs per 1k and it came up extremely spotty. I plan on pushing with N to help it spread but watching Zenith grow from seed is as slow as it gets. I am right at a month and the seedlines are all still under an inch. Surprisingly, the shadiest parts of my yard have had the highest germination which contradicts what I read with zoysia being dependent on sunlight for germination.


That's very interesting. What were your soil temperatures for the first couple weeks like?


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## the_goodz (Mar 1, 2021)

Nick Sal said:


> the_goodz said:
> 
> 
> > Following! I recently seeded Zenith Zoysia at around 2 lbs per 1k and it came up extremely spotty. I plan on pushing with N to help it spread but watching Zenith grow from seed is as slow as it gets. I am right at a month and the seedlines are all still under an inch. Surprisingly, the shadiest parts of my yard have had the highest germination which contradicts what I read with zoysia being dependent on sunlight for germination.
> ...


Being in Central Florida, they were in the high 70's, low 80's. Peat Moss definitely helped with the germination. I also seeded plugs as a test, and my fastest germination was at 9 days so be patient.


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## dubyadubya87 (Mar 10, 2020)

Last year I seeded my Zenith as soon as the soil hit 70 and it was like watching paint dry.


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## Nick Sal (Apr 6, 2021)

Here we go folks...


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## dubyadubya87 (Mar 10, 2020)




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## ENC_Lawn (Sep 9, 2018)

@Nick Sal :thumbup: Following along!


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## Nick Sal (Apr 6, 2021)

the_goodz said:


> Nick Sal said:
> 
> 
> > the_goodz said:
> ...


Maybe just moisture of the soil then? At least you have a long growing season there, should be able to get it to spread quite a bit.


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## Nick Sal (Apr 6, 2021)

Could this be Zenith germination at just 6 days? It's kind of hard to see but I am seeing the same thing all over the yard, especially where the hydroseed is thinner and there is full sun all day. I don't want to get my hopes up just yet but it seems likely to be the Zenith germinating!


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## the_goodz (Mar 1, 2021)

Looks promising! I had some early germinators that sprung up to an inch in height overnight. The blades were a lot thinner than I expected for a japonica and almost reminded me of a bermuda when germinating.


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## Nick Sal (Apr 6, 2021)

Zenith is germinating everywhere but the common Bermuda keeps trying to come back. Using GCI turfs foam glyphosate applicator to spot treat it.


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## dubyadubya87 (Mar 10, 2020)

Nick Sal said:


> Zenith is germinating everywhere but the common Bermuda keeps trying to come back. Using GCI turfs foam glyphosate applicator to spot treat it.


Fighting the good fight, I just accepted it with mine.


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## Nick Sal (Apr 6, 2021)

It's day 10 and there is great germination everywhere. Coverage seems to be very good despite a heavy rain the day after seeding. So far I am very happy with the results.


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## Nick Sal (Apr 6, 2021)

Day 13:


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## the_goodz (Mar 1, 2021)

Looks great! I am curious as to what brand of seed you used? Your sprouts look like they have much broader leaves that mine from the Patten Seed company.


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## Nick Sal (Apr 6, 2021)

I used the same seed as you. Hopefully what I have coming up everywhere is zoysia lol. I fertilized pretty heavy and hydroseeded it, not sure if that would effect it.


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## Nick Sal (Apr 6, 2021)

Now that you say it, I'm starting to wonder if this is all Zenith or crabgrass. Anyone have any insight? I think I will send some pictures over to the Patten Seed Company to verify that I have Zenith growing and not all crabgrass.


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## Nick Sal (Apr 6, 2021)

So I sent a few pictures to the Patten Seed Company and they said they are 100% sure that it is Zenith. I'm going to back the water down in a few days and apply Hydretain as a liquid and water it in. &#129310;


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## Nick Sal (Apr 6, 2021)

More Pictures:


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## the_goodz (Mar 1, 2021)

Well now you have me paranoid that I was sold a bag of bermuda disguised as zoysia :lol: what email did you use to contact them as they only have a phone number on the supersod website?


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## Nick Sal (Apr 6, 2021)

I called the phone number and they emailed me to send them some pictures. It was [email protected] I know what they said but I'm paranoid as well because I still think mine looks like crabgrass when I google pictures. I guess we will wait and see!


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## Nick Sal (Apr 6, 2021)

Day 15:

I am now pretty convinced that what I thought was germinating zoysia last week is actually crabgrass. I have more widespread germination of a much smaller grass coming up everywhere. I believe that this is the zenith zoysia. If anyone has any input on what they think please feel free to chime in. Also, if I have this much crabgrass I would like to spray drive xlr8 as soon as it is safe. The label states that is is safe 7 days after germination. Has anyone used drive xlr8 on zoysia seedlings and if so did you reduce the rate? I was thinking about trying 1 oz per thousand with no surfactant and testing in a small area first but I would appreciate any input about this.


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## dubyadubya87 (Mar 10, 2020)

Now _that's _ zoysia seedlings. I wasn't going to argue with what Patten was saying, but...

As to spraying, I've never used xlr8. I only used Celsius last year after seeding and that wasn't until after my Zenith was big enough to cut probably twice. I did fight crabgrass all of last year, but I accepted that going into my project, knowing that I wouldn't have the problem this year due to preemerge treatment. Spraying any herbicide on seedlings would make me nervous.


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## the_goodz (Mar 1, 2021)

I used Drive on my seed within a week of seeding. I spot sprayed everything that was sprouting before the zoysia. No real issues that I could tell. I applied again a month after seeding and had some seedlings turn purple but no real damage as they recovered. It is now just under 2 months since seeding and I will be doing my first application of celcius/certainty this weekend. Drive didnt give me great results so I am itching to battle all the crabgrass and start letting those spots fill in.


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## Nick Sal (Apr 6, 2021)

the_goodz said:


> I used Drive on my seed within a week of seeding. I spot sprayed everything that was sprouting before the zoysia. No real issues that I could tell. I applied again a month after seeding and had some seedlings turn purple but no real damage as they recovered. It is now just under 2 months since seeding and I will be doing my first application of celcius/certainty this weekend. Drive didnt give me great results so I am itching to battle all the crabgrass and start letting those spots fill in.


That's great news. I tested the Drive xlr8 in a small area and so far the seedlings seem fine. I didn't use surfactant according to the label so I'm not sure how effective it will be on crabgrass. I am also planning on using Celsius/Certainty combo later this season after the grass is better established. Can't wait to hear how it goes for you. Thanks!


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## Nick Sal (Apr 6, 2021)

I sprayed Drive xlr8 in a few test areas 3 days ago @ 1 oz. per thousand with no surfactant. It seems to be really effecting the crabgrass without harming the new zoysia.


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## dubyadubya87 (Mar 10, 2020)

Lots of little zoysia babies coming up. Wishing now I'd thought to spray Drive during mine.


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## Nick Sal (Apr 6, 2021)

dubyadubya87 said:


> Lots of little zoysia babies coming up. Wishing now I'd thought to spray Drive during mine.


I should have sprayed it in between seeding and the zoysia emerging. The label says it will not effect the zoysia germination. Once it germinates you have to wait until the seedlings are half an inch tall which takes 1-2 weeks. By then the crabgrass has been growing for 2-3 weeks and is harder to kill. Oh well, live and learn lol.


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## Nick Sal (Apr 6, 2021)

Day 35:

The Zoysia germinated very evenly but weeds (mainly crabgrass) have crowded it out significantly in some areas. I have sprayed Drive xlr8 twice now, 14 days apart at .75 per thousand with no surfactant. I also put down Azoxystroban 2 days ago when I noticed what appeared to be some brown patch forming. I just finished the third mow with a manual reel at 1.5 inches. I will wait and apply 1 more application of Drive with the surfactant added and then switch to Celsius once the grass is a bit more established. I will also start plugging to the bare areas once the weed pressure is reduced.


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## Nick Sal (Apr 6, 2021)

I haven't posted anything in a while but I really wanted to wait until the lawn was looking good. We finally got some rain last week and the Zoysia has really been able to green up and fill in pretty good given the dry season we have had. I've controlled weeds the best I could with 2 apps of Drive xlr8 early on and 1 app of Celsius last month. I have tried to spot treat the quack grass with glyphosate but there was a lot of it so it's kind of been a losing battle. I am applying my last fertilizer app of the season next week and I won't be putting down any more herbicide this season. I also think that I'll be skipping a pre-emergent this fall and applying prodiamine in the spring and clean up the fall weeds with post emergents next year when the grass will be able to recover. I'll continue with a couple more preventative fungicide apps to close out the year in September and October. So far things have turned out about as good as I could have hoped for. Growing Zoysia from seed is definitely not for the faint of heart, this took a LOT of work.


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## dubyadubya87 (Mar 10, 2020)

Nick Sal said:


> Growing Zoysia from seed is definitely not for the faint of heart, this took a LOT of work.


 But definitely more satisfying! Looks great.


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