Where do you live?

If spots in the lawn get a disease in the spring, or insect damage in the summer, are you going to be happy with dead spots until the following April? If not then maybe zoysia is not for you.

Thanks for the feedback. I live near Atlanta, GA. I understand that zoysia repairs itself slower than Bermuda but does it take one full year to recover? I do have a company that comes out 9 times a year and takes care of fertilizer, pesticide, etc. so that should help?

It looks like zeon is the newer, genetically improved variety. Emerald goes back to Tifton in 1955, so it's not the latest & greatest

I have Zeon and it's gorgeous. Pretty thick in fairly dense shade, ridiculously thick in the sun, stays green with only minimal feeding and weekly watering, and has the barefoot feel you want in a grass. Even when it's not in top condition, in my opinion it blows away the appearance of even low-cut Celebration Bermuda (which I also love and have in a hell strip between driveways).

That said, dChall is right. It is agonizingly slow to spread and repair when needed. It will certainly do it, but you'll be waiting a while. Be sure you grade your lawn well and have even coverage with your irrigation system. If you're well prepared before putting down sod and stay on top of things, big dead spots shouldn't be a problem.

bobstrauss, will the Zeon choke out other grasses...like bermuda? "Ridiculously thick" makes me think it will. Any weeds to worry about?

Hi Bob, Thanks for the great input and advice! I'm going to go ahead and order the Zeon sod this week and make sure my prep is done properly!

Dave my experience with zoysia was with a turf called Shadow Turf. It is a highly shade resistant zoysia - a variety of the Manila variety. I've seen it grow in very dark shade and do very well. In my yard I hoped it would overtake the bermuda, but every time there was a problem with the turf, the bermuda came in to fill. And even if the lawn was damaged in early spring it never greened up again until the following April. That gives the weeds puh-LENTY of time to move in. I planted mine in what was originally shade until a storm took out the tree creating the shade. Then it was 5 hours of sunlight, and the common bermuda definitely dominated the zoysia making it all look weedy.

Hi Dchall - thanks for the heads up. My current yard is fescue and it jut can't handle our GA heat. It's also expensive and time consuming to aerate, reseed, and water every fall. My neighbor has zoysia so no worries of any aggressive bermuda invading (hopefully). It's disappointing to hear that it can take a year to repair damaged spots. If i were to have a small area that is damaged in the early season and clearly not going to recover i would probably go buy a single piece of sod to fill in. I do appreciate the advice and your experience with zoysia!

bobstrauss, Not to continue the sidebar too long, but it would be good to go over your bad experience with leveling. If we could learn from your mistakes that's always nice.

In your back area where the bermuda is 5%, is that growing into or shrinking away from the Zeon?

I'll post soon on that, including several photos. In the back, the Bermuda has a few small pockets (less than the size of my hand) where Bermuda has taken root, but its mostly little lines/runs that shoot up noticeably at the end of the week, just prior to my weekly mow. It doesn't seem so much like its growing into the Zoysia, but certainly seems to hold its own in pockets and spread over bare spots more quickly (the latter being as expected).

I tried a mix of Fusilade II and triclopyr, which has been proven through research to suppress Bermuda in Zoysiagrass. But as the theme continues, it's been difficult for me to match the exact application rates as mentioned in the research. Two applications (one in June, another in July) failed to demonstrate much effect, then I seemed to overcorrect in August and I have yellow spots.

Hah, I'll pinball my way to success eventually.

I am pretty happy reading all of this, as I just sodded my backyard with Zeon. The sod is beautiful, but we will see how it holds up. I noticed that the local pikes nurseries sell it by the square here in Atlanta as well, so if you have a dead spot, you can just buy a square for around a buck. It would cost a fortune to sod the whole yard this way, but at least you can do patches if needed.

Hi Jeff,

I just put down 4 pallets of zeon last week and I am also very pleased with the way it looks. It'll be interesting to see how it looks next season once it becomes more established and fills in. Thanks again for all of the feedback.

I moved into a North Atlanta home that has tall pines on 3 sides of A north/south yard. The yard was a combination of weeds/moss/ and a variety of grasses including POA. I killed everything and rototilled the ground. After 2 years the Zein sod looks great. I get an occasional weed that I hand pull. The only weak areas are where it is pretty flat and doesn’t drain fast. POA is the main reoccurring problem in this area. A higher cutting height encourages a denser stand. Also leaving it high going into winter dormancy seems to help. Unlike Bermuda, it doesn’t go completely tan in winter dormancy.

I had emerald zoysia on about 2500sf in front and about 3500sf in the back. The yard has mature trees here in Montgomery Alabama. The emerald kept getting fungus and brown patch. I replaced the entire front with Zeon in February of 2020 and it turned out beautiful the entire summer of 2020. So I cut the back yard low and spray roundup then I sanded it August of 2020 and went right on top of it. In 2021 when it green up in April it looked like a golf course. I cut my yard with a rotary honda mower on a low setting when I measured its right below 2 inches. No signs of fungus or brown spot. I plan to start reel cutting when it, when it greens up this time to see if it makes a big difference.

Thank you Andrew. That's good information.