Not sure this is the sort of info you're looking for, Christine. My neighbor has seeded part of his lawn with Zoysia japonica. I quite honestly don't like it, because it's brown 6 or 7 months of the year. It turns brown a lot faster than just about everything else I've seen, including all the weeds in my lawn that keep it looking nice and green well into the winter.

You're due for a visit. Come on by, and you can see for yourself the Zoysia - non-Zoysia difference. I even cleaned my house, so it's perfectly safe to visit.

Suja

Christine. Go to
umd.edu
Look up Peter Dernoden under faculty and fire him off an e-mail. He is the turf specialist on campus.
He works hand-in-glove with Golf course specialists. Tell I sent you, Mary Sterrett

I'm not familiar with that variety of zoysia. We converted to a zoysia lawn about 12 years ago and I love it. We have a south western exposure in the front and got sick of having a burned lawn. Ours usually holds up through a few frosts and doesn't get brown until Dec. This year it stayed green until the end of Jan but it is slower than many varieties to green up in the spring. After the second year that we had the plugs put in we've never watered it and it's beautiful even during the bad summer droughts that we've had over the past 10 years. There's a turf farm on 198 near the intersection at New Hampshire Ave that carries different zoysia varieties. I have no idea if they have the kind you are talking about but they might at least know something about it. I'll look for the name the next time I drive by.
Karyn

Thanks, guys!

I saw this grass on HGTV. It's a low growing grass, 3-6'' and these folks never mowed it. It looked green and rich, but the word "zoysia" = brown to me.

I'm going to keep checking. I have so much to mow I'd do a lot to get rid of it. I was thinking of exploring areas with just varieties of thyme or oregano on them. I just don't know how to keep the weeds out until they're well established.

C.

how long does this grass stay brown in SOCAL, if at all? thought I saw some in Rancho Bernardo in Dec, was still green