Empire Zoysia Looking really bad. Help!

14 years ago

Hi, I just laid down new empire zoysia sod about 8 months ago, My lawn is used a lot by my kids playing, and I have a brand new sprinkler system that covers very well. For the first few months the grass was looking great. It was deep green and was soft to walk on. It always looked the best in the parts of the yard that got shade throughout most of the day. Now the parts that are in the shade still look o.k. but the rest of the lawn that gets full sun looks horrible. It is all brown with little purple tips. Also I had some sort of fungus that was quickly taking over and there are 5 dead spots that are about 6' in diameter. I used Fertilome F-stop twice as directed by my county extension office but the grass just will not go green. We have had a very cold winter for central Florida with many nights in the 30's, but should the grass be this brown? Is this normal for Zoysia? How much should I water it? It feels so dry and brittle, but I think I was over watering which is probably why the fungus started. Any advice would be greatly apppreciated. This is our first house, and my kids first yard to play in, so this is very important to me.

Thanks in advance.

George

Featured Answer

dchall_san_antonio

14 years ago

St Augustine sometimes gets purple tips in harsh winter. It might be normal for your zoysia.

When you read the original ads for Empire zoysia they probably talked about disease resistance. As you can see, it does get disease. When that happens the grass is dead and will not come back except as it spreads back from outside the dead areas. You can buy more sod and dig out what you have but otherwise you have to wait for it to fill back. That is one of the main reasons people in my neighborhood abandon zoysia and go to St Augustine. St Aug also gets disease but it usually grows back the same year. Your areas might not recover for several years due to the slow growth of Empire.

Also kids can damage zoysia. The grass blades break off leaving you with a "path" of very low growing grass where they played. This is another reason people abandon zoysia.

If you decide to try a different grass, consider Floratam St Augustine. It was developed by the University of Florida and Texas A&M University to withstand the typical stresses of our climates and conditions. I just put a couple pieces into my common St Augustine lawn to see how it does. It is just coming out of dormancy now so we'll see how it does and report back later.

No matter what lawn you have, you should water it deeply and infrequently. Deeply means for an hour or so at a time. Infrequently means no more than once a month during the cooler parts of the year and no more than once a week during the hottest part of summer. Your sunlight, wind, humidity, and soil type will cause you to adjust from that regimen but many many people reading here have turned their lawns around by changing their watering practices. I know I'm one who has. And it was a Phoenix-based lawn contractor who convinced me to do it like that, so if they can do it in Phoenix, you can do it in Florida.

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Comments (12)

garycinchicago
14 years ago
>"We have had a very cold winter for central Florida with many nights in the 30's,"

quoted from http://topturfsod.com/questions.htm

Of the top-quality brands offered by Top Turf, only Bermuda and Zoysia grasses go dormant during the winter. Exactly when the dormant period begins depends upon the weather in your geographic area. When it first begins to frost, the grass will begin to go dormant. After a hard freeze, these types of grass are completely dormant. In north Alabama and southern Tennessee, turf will normally go dormant during the month of November, and will come out of dormancy during the month of March. When grass is dormant, it loses itÂs color and doesnÂt grow. This means less maintenance for the customer. Fescue and hybrid Fescue with Bluegrass donÂt have dormant periods, so they require more maintenance, but provide beautifully colored lawns all year.
surfsidewood
Original Author
14 years ago
Thank you for the info. So I guess I will have to wait a little while longer for it to start coming back around? Does anyone have any idea what the purple tips are? They are growing on the top of tiny rounded stems and are now mixed in with all of the spots that are brown on the lawn. Is this from not getting enough water?
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mrmumbels
14 years ago
The purple tips are the seeds. Every March/April you'll ee them. Also, these seeds are sterile so don't try to grow them :)

How's it looking now? Your empire sounds like mine. It looked great the first year but the last 2 years it's been the worst lawn in the neighborhood. I have absolutely no root system. When it rains it's green but 2 days later it's dried up and dead looking again.

Shoot me an email with some pics if you can. I'm curious if you have the same problem as me. I've been looking everywhere to find a fix with no luck :(

jeremy@undybug.com
texas_weed
14 years ago
Zoysia is slow to come out of dormancy. Don't panic just yet, give it some time.
phil_salemfarmsupply_com
13 years ago
I removed my St. Augustine sod this past fall and replaced it with Empire zoysia. I'm in SW Florida. Most of my neighbors have Floratam and it generally looks lousy ... dead spots, thin cover ... and this is a community where everyone spends a lot of money on landscaping. My zoysia is primarily dormant right now ... and there are some round, brown spots 2-4' in diameter. I contacted Bethel Farms today and sent them pics of the sod and problem areas. Perhaps I'll get a diagnosis or comments. I would never go back to St. Augustine ... essentially it's like cultivated crabgrass ... lousy to walk on and subject to all kinds of pests and diseases. I'll stick to Empire and solve the issues rather than re-sod with the evil Floratam.
botanicalbill
13 years ago
I had problems with my zoysia after I layed it, I had bill bugs. bifenthrin (ortho products) cured that, so, just keep your eyes for them.

My zoysia has been brown in spots for about 1 1/2 half months. We had 80 degree weather, about 2 hours south of you, yesterday and in the 70s for the past week. It looks my zoysia has started to green a bit. Im sure your about a week or two behind me. Im just east of fort myers.

What every you do, dont give up on your empire, its a beautiful grass once you get it established.
jsmader1_msn_com
13 years ago
Does anyone have a lawn service in Ft. Myers that knows how to care for zoysia grass??? Ours looks terrible!
dchall_san_antonio
13 years ago
jsmader1, please start a new thread to ask your question. Nobody will be looking here to answer it. For your subject you might say, "Looking for lawn service in Ft Myers."

Are you unwilling to water, mow, and fertilize yourself?
wrager
13 years ago
I don't know why anyone would pick Zoysia over Bermuda. The creeping into adjacent beds is just not an argument. It takes but a minute to pluck out the encroaching growth.
Sure it is more maintenace. I'd rather maintain than constant repair and rennovation.

What about Seahore Paspalum for Florida.
Dennis-Jupiter
11 years ago
Check for nematodes. That seems to be the worst problem I have with my Empire Zoysia. Search the University of Florida Website, they can do the testing for you. Its a hassle to dig up the samples and mail them but well worth knowing what is causing the problems you are having. I had what seems to be the same problem as Philip T Lewis 10 and possibly Surfsidewood. After three years of trying everything and still having the worst looking lawn in town, I finally gave up. I disconnected the irrigation system and was about to spray roundup on it and try some other type of grass, but first I sent several soil samples to UF for nematode testing. They came back with extremely high nematode counts. Treating for them seemed to solve the worst of problems.
texas_weed
11 years ago
Dennis the post is two years old, the OP is long gone.

Empire Zoysia Looking really bad. Help!

dchall_san_antonio

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Empire Zoysia Looking really bad. Help!

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