# Zoysia options



## Alex_18 (Mar 9, 2019)

Im planning on doing a renovation on my 2k sqft back yard this spring/summer. it stays pretty shaded so i think zoysia will be my best option. i have arden 15 bermuda in the front yard so im looking for something to match up to it to put in the back yard. my options from a local sod farm are palisades, GEO, el toro, zeon, and empire zoysia. i know it will not be exact, but which one will give me the best match to bermuda? i plan on maintaining it around the same height as my bermuda which is 7/16. thanks in advance


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## Spammage (Apr 30, 2017)

@Alex_18 of the listed varieties, Geo and Zeon are going to be your closest matches. The other varieties are japonicas, so the blade width is notably wider than your bermuda.


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## jayhawk (Apr 18, 2017)

Spammage said:


> @Alex_18 of the listed varieties, Geo and Zeon are going to be your closest matches. The other varieties are japonicas, so the blade width is notably wider than your bermuda.


Definitely


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## Alex_18 (Mar 9, 2019)

@Spammage @jayhawk appreciate the feedback fellas. after doing a little more research, i think im going to go with the GEO. simply due to the recommended mowing heights. most of what i have read has GEO recommended at 0.5-1.5", and zeon at 1.5 or more. there are a few things ive read that have different recommendations, but majority of them have it as above. thanks again


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## pherrley (May 8, 2020)

Not to push you back into the decision again, but Zeon is used on golf course fairways, tees, and greens, so I don't think you'd have anything to worry about with HoC.

Also to note; as you probably know already, grass generally does worse in shade when cut shorter. Depending on your desired HoC in "shaded" areas, you might experience low turf density.


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## LoCutt (Jul 29, 2019)

Please remember that when you have grass X in the front, and Y in the back, it's easy to mix the grasses together due to the mower distributing viable grass pieces in the second stand.

Back when I had my business, one of my customers had Emerald zoysia and she paid extra for me to use a reel on her lawn. Several years later, I discovered infestations of Emerald in my Bermuda. I had used the same mower without seriously cleaning it. Since Emerald seed is sterile, the only way to get Emerald in your lawn is vegetatively. Murphy says it's easier to accidentally spread grass than purposefully.


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## ENC_Lawn (Sep 9, 2018)

@LoCutt Not to get the thread off topic but Emerald is such a slow spreader did the Bermuda 419 you have take over or is the Emerald Zoysia still there?

@Alex_18 I am excited to follow your Zoysia journey!  :thumbup:


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## Greendoc (Mar 24, 2018)

LoCutt said:


> Please remember that when you have grass X in the front, and Y in the back, it's easy to mix the grasses together due to the mower distributing viable grass pieces in the second stand.
> 
> Back when I had my business, one of my customers had Emerald zoysia and she paid extra for me to use a reel on her lawn. Several years later, I discovered infestations of Emerald in my Bermuda. I had used the same mower without seriously cleaning it. Since Emerald seed is sterile, the only way to get Emerald in your lawn is vegetatively. Murphy says it's easier to accidentally spread grass than purposefully.


Sterility of seed produced is not an absolute certainty. I have known the various cultivars of Zoysia to spread via seed in neighborhoods and via transfer by mower. A sod grower I respect the opinion of told me there may not be enough viable seed produced to make it worth harvesting and selling as seed, but all it takes is a few viable seeds produced among thousands to cause contamination of a non Zoysia area.


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## Alex_18 (Mar 9, 2019)

pherrley said:


> Not to push you back into the decision again, but Zeon is used on golf course fairways, tees, and greens, so I don't think you'd have anything to worry about with HoC.
> 
> Also to note; as you probably know already, grass generally does worse in shade when cut shorter. Depending on your desired HoC in "shaded" areas, you might experience low turf density.


@pherrley thats a very good point. i should mention, it wont be full shade. the area does get a few hours of direct sunlight in the summer


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## Alex_18 (Mar 9, 2019)

LoCutt said:


> Please remember that when you have grass X in the front, and Y in the back, it's easy to mix the grasses together due to the mower distributing viable grass pieces in the second stand.
> 
> Back when I had my business, one of my customers had Emerald zoysia and she paid extra for me to use a reel on her lawn. Several years later, I discovered infestations of Emerald in my Bermuda. I had used the same mower without seriously cleaning it. Since Emerald seed is sterile, the only way to get Emerald in your lawn is vegetatively. Murphy says it's easier to accidentally spread grass than purposefully.


@LoCutt thanks for the input. you make a valid point i believe, but im not too concerned with the bermuda infesting the zoysia, just the other way around, which i think is what youre trying to get at. i typically always cut my front yard which is bermuda first. and i always clean my mower before storing it so i think my concerns are minimized


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## Alex_18 (Mar 9, 2019)

thanks @ENC_Lawn how is your arden coming along?


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## ENC_Lawn (Sep 9, 2018)

Alex_18 said:


> thanks @ENC_Lawn how is your arden coming along?


@Alex_18 The Arden 15 came in nicely last season....looks good and blends pretty good with the small amounts of 419 Sod I have.

The shorter the Bermuda is cut the more noticeable you can tell the slight difference in the 419 and The Arden 15.

But overall I am very happy with the Bermuda.

If you had asked me 3 months ago...I would of told you I was going to start over from scratch and redo the lawn with Zoysia...just due to the constant mowing... 

But at this point I think I am going to stay with the Bermuda.

I am excited to see which you prefer the Zoysia or Bermuda since you will have them both! :nod:


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## pherrley (May 8, 2020)

Alex_18 said:


> @pherrley thats a very good point. i should mention, it wont be full shade. the area does get a few hours of direct sunlight in the summer


I just installed Zeon last summer, bought a greens mower late fall, and have been looking into the same thing you're doing now. I've skimmed several USGA / college research articles and in general, Zeon performs better in shade than Geo. Geo is about in the middle of Bermuda and Zeon; so maybe 6 hours (Bermuda is typically listed as 8 hours min, and Zeon around 4)? Turf testing is mostly done at "golf course" heights, so for a home owner, you'll have to guess some.

From what I could find, for minimum acceptable turf quality for Zeon (subjective):
2" - min 4 hours of sun
.75" + PGR - min 5 hours of sun
.75" - min 6 hours of sun

My lawn is pretty shady, so I'll definitely be using PGR this year, but even at that, I'm not sure it's going to work out well since I was hoping to maintain around 0.75"


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## Alex_18 (Mar 9, 2019)

ENC_Lawn said:


> Alex_18 said:
> 
> 
> > thanks @ENC_Lawn how is your arden coming along?
> ...


Good to hear. You should look into PGR if you havent already. I mow my Arden once a week in the summer and im maintaining it at 7/16. Gonna sand level it this spring. Looking forward to that for sure

Its gonna be hard to beat the bermuda. I would love to do it in the back yard but i just dont get enough sun for Bermuda. It started off as st aug in the back, then last year i spent the whole summer trying to kill that off with quinclorac because i had a lot of common bermuda in there. It just hasnt filled in like i wanted it to. I just need something that will keep in the shade


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## ENC_Lawn (Sep 9, 2018)

Alex_18 said:


> ENC_Lawn said:
> 
> 
> > Alex_18 said:
> ...


@Alex_18 Thats awesome you only had to mow once a week at 7/16....

Thanks for the info!


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## Movingshrub (Jun 12, 2017)

Have you considered measuring the daylight in the area where you are considering zoysia? You might not be locked in to planting that variety.


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## Alex_18 (Mar 9, 2019)

Movingshrub said:


> Have you considered measuring the daylight in the area where you are considering zoysia? You might not be locked in to planting that variety.


Havent really thought of that. Honestly not sure how to do it other than the obvious. I know it changes from this time of the year to summer time with more light in the summer


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## Movingshrub (Jun 12, 2017)

I had a hard time determining which variety and cultivar to use for my lawn when I bought the house, removed a forest of trees, and then decided to put down grass. Per the recommendation of a professor at Auburn, I used the DLI 100 light meter. I learned more about shade and light than I ever expected. If I didn't have kids and pets, I probably would have gone zoysia, but I ended up going Tiftuf via way of broadcast stolonizing as my method of establishment.


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## LoCutt (Jul 29, 2019)

ENC_Lawn said:


> ... did the Bermuda 419 you have take over or is the Emerald Zoysia still there?


The zoysia is still there, primarily because I'm having shade problems with the 419-II which, like its genetic predecessor, requires full sun. My solution is to install TifGrand because I'm a Bermuda aficionado. However I may not be able to physically handle all of this work. The three areas are all small enough that I could plug them with plugs harvested from other areas of the lawn where the Bermuda still thrives.


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## ENC_Lawn (Sep 9, 2018)

LoCutt said:


> ENC_Lawn said:
> 
> 
> > ... did the Bermuda 419 you have take over or is the Emerald Zoysia still there?
> ...


@LoCutt Do you have any pics?

I have a friend who is mixing Bermuda and Emerald Zoysia.

He is trimming out his beds with the Zoysia "since the Zoysia is slow from lateral growth" and is using the Bermuda in the rest of the area.

It seems to blend pretty good to be do different grass types. But its a rather small area.

I would love to see what a larger area of mixed Emerald / Bermuda look like?

Thanks


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## Redtwin (Feb 9, 2019)

From a distance Empire and 419 blend well as far as color but up close the texture difference is very apparent. It's been a relatively harsh winter and my 419 is also doing better. The Empire that I have been treating like Bermuda has taken a serious beating with the several frosts we have had. I was cutting it at 3/8" and I guess it doesn't do well during dormancy at that height. My neighbor's Empire at 2" is almost complete dormant but looks stronger. We shall see how it does once things warm up. I can tell you that with the several mild winters we have had in the past, it has dominated the 419 and is choking it out.


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## LoCutt (Jul 29, 2019)

ENC_Lawn said:


> @LoCutt Do you have any pics?


I do not have any pictures but I'll try to get a few. It's all dormant now so I'm unsure how much you can see.

The zoysia does mix well but it eventually crowds the Bermuda out. It's most visible at season change, with the 419-II getting green before the zoysia and the zoysia staying green after the Bermuda goes dormant. Other issues are (1) the Bermuda is much softer to the bare foot (this is a big deal to me), (2) the mower floats more on the zoysia canopy (perhaps a McLane issue) which makes the mower more difficult to control and slows it down, and (3) the patches are all in the full sun area and are a slightly different color.

When I say the zoysia will crowd the Bermuda out, I'm saying this happens under my current mowing conditions. The Toro triplex has an upper limit of 9/16, and I used to mow at 3/8 and raise the HOC periodically (because of thatch). But when I got to 9/16, I had to verticut. So mowing at 3/4 and up eased this problem. I need to get the triplex going again! If you mow low enough (remember my screen name), the Emerald won't tolerate the HOC as well and the Bermuda will predominate.

I think the mixed grasses might work well for a while, but time will limit this approach.


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