I have a zoysia that would work but I'm not sure I want to recommend it without knowing more. Do you have gardens that might get invaded by aggressive grass? Or do you have solid (concrete or steel) barriers between the grass and garden areas? This zoysia grows very strong in seemingly impenetrable shade; however, it has a "bermuda-like" growth habit. It sends runners underground (called rhizomes) that spread the plant. The only difference I see between bermuda and this zoysia in the aggression department is that the zoysia seems to be slightly easier to pull out. I guess either the roots are not that tenacious or the runners hold onto the roots better. I just pulled some of both today and the bermuda was much harder to get out. The zoysia had escaped much farther than the bermuda, but again was still slightly easier to get out.

The other difference between this zoysia and bermuda is that it is a very nice color of green. It is fine bladed, spreads like crazy, and will go dormant in the winter. It did not go dormant in San Antonio, but it does north of here.

This stuff costs about $90 for a set of about 60 plugs. I hear there are folks in my area and south buying 200 sets of plugs at a time. I hope they like it.

The name is Shadow Turf. It is sold by a grower just north of Lubbock, Texas.

Zoysia in NJ and in shade? Sory but Zoysia is a warm season grass suited for mostly sunny conditions to full-sun conditions in the South. While it does handle shade better than Bermuda grass, neither are choices for NJ.

t-weed, you need to get over to Abernathy to see the Shadow-Turf growing under a dense English walnut tree. I can give you an address of the home. You'll be amazed how dense the shade is and how dense the grass is.

In Northern climates, most varieties of Zoysia are green between May (until air temps are 70+) and the first frost...often less than six months. Most Northerners don't choose Zoysia for this reason.

I agree with Texas-Weed. Zoysia is not a good choice for NJ.

-Deerslayer

Fine Fescue is the better choice providing that there will be no dogs or kids playing on it every other day.

Zoysia can easely grow in NJ, it grows as far north as costal Maine and Chicago in the Midwest.

Zoysia will grow as far north as Chicago. If you live in northern climate, it's a great choice if you prefer brown grass for most of the year.

Zoysia Map

-Deerslayer

Mr. Hall thank you. I am aware of Shadow Turf, but in NJ cold weather tolerance is the key to survival. Empire (Zoysia japonica) is the most cold tolerant of the Zoysia grasses, and in NJ would only be green for 4 months of the year, and that IMO makes any Zoysia a poor choice for that region.

Put another way: we Texans wouldn't touch a Hot Sauce made in NJ, nor should folks in NJ touch a grass developed here in TX. It just won't work. :>)

The POV I should have really pushed is; even if Zoysia would grow well in NJ, since the growing season in NJ is so short, like maybe 3-months, it would take years for Zoysia plugs to establish. Where as places like Texas, God's Country, where the growing seasons are 9 months plus can establish in a year or two.

I can attest to the zoysia staying brown for a good portion of the year. I'm in SE PA and have had brown grass since probably early-mid november. This past fall I heavily dethatched and aerated the lawn and then overseeded with a fescue blend which looks not that bad (still can see some brown but there is a nice undertone of green.

I would recommend against this if possible. One of the worst things about zoysia is it is incredibly effective at out competing other grasses during its growing season. My next door neighbor (of whom our lawns are directly connected with no barrier between) had her entire lawn reseeded 2 years ago with a non-zoysia blend (I assume fescue). Everything looked pretty good during the growing season (except she didn't know how to water properly and proceeded to drown the grass every night for 30minutes the whole summer).

Come that winter the story was completely different. A huge 10foot swath of grass going right into the center of her lawn was brown. It looked like you took a can of paint and threw it in her lawn. That was 2 years ago. This past winter almost 40% of her lawn was now zoysia and let me tell you; a brown lawn doesn't look great, but a polka dot green/brown lawn looks MUCH worse.

So I would agree and highly recommend against zoysia in your region. If I could get rid of mine and be absolutely sure it wouldn't come back I would.

Be glad you don't have bermuda. It's far worse...

I live in NJ and have sen people try to grow zoysia.
Looks like hell most of the year.
Use grass seed for shady areas. Mostly fescues!