# Zoysia: Empire, Geo or Icon ?



## ThomasPI (May 18, 2019)

Follow up to my resod post that @Greendoc was kind enough to respond to. New to us house that we will be closing on within a few weeks. We've got 1/2 acre lot with I'd guess about 15,000 sq ft of Floratram.

We are going to add a second outdoor patio with hot tub and also another patio with a fire pit. I'm estimating we will end up with about 14,000 sq ft of lawn. The Floratram is coming out, most likely this fall.

I checked with a few local sod farms. Empire and Icon Zoysia are easy to get and Geo is a possibility. Realistically I'm thinking maintaining the lawn at a HOC of 3/4" is doable. I've got a 26" Baroness mower. I plan to start to kill off the Floratram in mid to late July and resod in early to mid September.

House is located just South of Crystal River Florida in Zone 9. Having said that, out of the identified choices which way would you recommend I go and why?


----------



## Greendoc (Mar 24, 2018)

Geo Zoysia needs a very low height of cut. As in under 1/2" Empire needs a 1/2-3/4" height of cut. I do not know what Icon is. I do know that Empire is an extremely fast grower unless on PGR.


----------



## ktgrok (May 25, 2019)

I will say as a fellow floridian, check out other zoysia lawns in your area - particularly those that are several years old. Seems everyone loves them at first, but then the nematodes or something hits and they go downhill. Maybe ask the sod company if you can get references of installs? Or ask on your neighborhood facebook group if anyone has zoysia, what kind,and how long they have had it? 
I love the look and feel, but seems that they don't last in my area. i'm VERY tempted to put it in the kid's play area in the back, but not willing to pay that to then fight it constantly. Probably going to do st. augustine. I know you don't like it, and I don't really either, lol, but there is a reason everyone has it, i'm finding out.


----------



## ThomasPI (May 18, 2019)

Thanks gents, much appreciated. I'd never heard of Icon either until I spoke to the farmers and I still can't find a whole lot on it. Empire is very popular in the area as is Geo. I'd tend to lean towards Empire as it may give me a bit more latitude with my available time to mow.


----------



## caddyshack4reel (Apr 24, 2019)

Geo is very grainy and can get "puffy". It's also extremely aggressive and will spread into other areas. Another negative is that it is not soft to walk on barefoot on lower HOC (if that is a consideration). In my opinion Empire is a great selection and you will be very pleased with it.


----------



## ThomasPI (May 18, 2019)

Good point thanks, I'll have to keep an eye open for Nematodes this I know from reading a lot of comments by @Greendoc .


----------



## Greendoc (Mar 24, 2018)

ktgrok said:
 

> I will say as a fellow floridian, check out other zoysia lawns in your area - particularly those that are several years old. Seems everyone loves them at first, but then the nematodes or something hits and they go downhill. Maybe ask the sod company if you can get references of installs? Or ask on your neighborhood facebook group if anyone has zoysia, what kind,and how long they have had it?
> I love the look and feel, but seems that they don't last in my area. i'm VERY tempted to put it in the kid's play area in the back, but not willing to pay that to then fight it constantly. Probably going to do st. augustine. I know you don't like it, and I don't really either, lol, but there is a reason everyone has it, i'm finding out.


Since the 1950s, there is a reason why Zoysia and Bermuda were never popular home lawn grasses in Florida. I have been living the results of the mistake of pushing Zoysia japonica cultivars as a replacement for Bermuda in Hawaii. Yes, Tifgreen 328 and Tifdwarf are very nematode and Take All Patch susceptible. However, El Toro and Empire Zoysia are nematode and Large Patch susceptible. The only grasses I have not seen special problems on have been dwarf St Augustine and Tifgrand Bermuda.


----------



## ktgrok (May 25, 2019)

Greendoc said:


> ktgrok said:
> 
> 
> > I will say as a fellow floridian, check out other zoysia lawns in your area - particularly those that are several years old. Seems everyone loves them at first, but then the nematodes or something hits and they go downhill. Maybe ask the sod company if you can get references of installs? Or ask on your neighborhood facebook group if anyone has zoysia, what kind,and how long they have had it?
> ...


I'm curious as to which dwarf St. Augustine you like? I'm looking at doing the backyard with St. Augustine (I cry uncle!) and options seem to be seville, maybe CitraBlue, ProVista, Floratam, and palmetto. I hear nothing good about Palmetto and fungus. CitraBlue is brand new, the one local place that had it on their website now doesn't, so not even sure it is available. Another place definitely has Seville.


----------



## Greendoc (Mar 24, 2018)

I like Captiva. As long as it is not pushed with N, it is relatively slow growing and also disease resistant. Too much N makes it susceptible to Gray Leaf Spot


----------



## ThomasPI (May 18, 2019)

Thanks @Greendoc, your comment on Tifgrand paved the way for additional thought. Seems Tifgrand is also available locally. Looks like keeping that at under .75" is important, with .5" being good. I'd definitely need to use PGR, but seems to be a very good option vs Empire.


----------



## bigmks (May 22, 2018)

I have empire zoysia and with reel cutting it @ .75 I can go almost 7 days without cutting no pgr needed. I plan to use some pgr to year as well.


----------



## Kberg84 (May 20, 2020)

@ThomasPI where will you be getting your sod? I'm actually planning a lawn renovation as well and have really been considering geo, tifgrand or trinity (L1F)


----------



## ThomasPI (May 18, 2019)

If we stick with Tifgrand here: http://www.masterturfsod.com/


----------



## ktgrok (May 25, 2019)

did you ever find out more about Icon? I'm reading, it is actually not a japonica or matrella species, but a cultivar bred from a native australian species, zoysia macrantha. I guess it grows wild in sand and on rocks...and has a faster lateral growth rate and higher pest resistance than the other varieties?


----------



## NorthAus (Feb 8, 2020)

I have Icon (called 'Nara' here in Australia) and am happy with it. I also have Zoysia matrella and have also had empire zoysia at a previous place and the Icon is my favourite of these. But my climate (tropical and highly seasonal) and conditions might be quite different to yours.

It does grow wild in sand and rocks - I have seen it on the exposed ocean headlands of Sydney growing naturally in decomposed sandstone only a few metres from the salt spray zone.


----------



## ktgrok (May 25, 2019)

NorthAus said:


> I have Icon (called 'Nara' here in Australia) and am happy with it. I also have Zoysia matrella and have also had empire zoysia at a previous place and the Icon is my favourite of these. But my climate (tropical and highly seasonal) and conditions might be quite different to yours.
> 
> It does grow wild in sand and rocks - I have seen it on the exposed ocean headlands of Sydney growing naturally in decomposed sandstone only a few metres from the salt spray zone.


Interesting! I'm in Florida, so subtropical, hot and humid rather than the hot and dry I picture in Australia. Mild winters as well. But our soil is pretty much beach sand, just uglier.


----------



## sk7786 (Aug 29, 2019)

i have Icon. im really pleased with it. for me its hard to tell the difference between it and Empire. the supplier said that it will stay greener longer in the winter. took a huge hit with the drought we just went through. but with all the rain in the area its bouncing back nicely. i plan on reel mowing at .75 - 1" once i level. its only about 2 months right now. one thing i noticed is that it seemed to have came from the farm very high. my plan is to scalp and sand once it bounces back from the stress.....we'll see


----------



## NorthAus (Feb 8, 2020)

ktgrok said:


> I'm in Florida, so subtropical, hot and humid rather than the hot and dry I picture in Australia. Mild winters as well. But our soil is pretty much beach sand, just uglier.


Australia is about the size of the USA ex. Alaska so there is a fair bit of variation in climate. Most of the areas where people live are only rarely hot and dry (maybe a month or two in some years). Where I am is a bit closer to the equator than Hawaii, but the climate is different (wet, humid and very hot 3-4 months then warm + dry to hot +dry (but often still humid) the rest of the year). Sydney is probably most similar to southern California climate.


----------

