Zoysia is a warm weather grass which means it will not green up until the weather and soil temps are warm. That means you would have brown patches when the rest of your early spring lawn is green. Lush? Well, not soft and thick like we think of a lush lawn. It does grow very thick but is stiff. We had some in our St. Louis yard and many yards were all zoysia. I would not grow it here.

I grew up in Dayton Ohio and we had it.
I HATED IT!
Yes, it's a lush lawn, but it takes forever to green up in the spring and goes brown before BlueGrass.
When it's brown, it's extremely course and prickly so it's uncomfortable to walk on.

I would NEVER consider having it in MN. Our growing season is way too short here.

Before moving from southern MN to St. Louis I used to look at those ads for zoysia and think they might be a solution to some of my lawn problems. After moving to St. Louis and actually experiencing lawns of zoysia I was glad that I did not have one here.

That answers my question about zoysia. Thanks!

I am not knowledgeable about grass and lawn at all. So what are my options for a grass that will grow in medium shade? Or am I going to have to pave my yard? LOL

Linda

Do you live in the Twin Cities?
If so, I find that Gertens has an awesome selection of blends of various grasses. I would encourage you to look there!

Thanks Melissa. I am actually up by North Branch, but have always wanted to take a "road trip" to Gerten's! LOL

Linda

Gerten's is great, Linda. You'll love it!

My grandparents put in some Zoysia grass many, many years ago, and I recall all the things about it that others mentioned. I wouldn't want it.