Where in GA are you located? (zip code will work)

The pictures look typical for a March sod installation in Northen GA.

Have you fertilized the sod yet?

You don't fertlize Zoysia before it is fully greened up. Once it is greened up apply fertlizer, wait 8 to 10 weeks and apply again then you are done for the year.

Doubt there is anything wrong with the sod, it has been an very unusual cold winter and spring so the sod is late this year greening up. Empire has less cold characteristics than some of the others like Meyrs, so it will be slow to green up.

The other thing that might make it slower is water. If it is dry, it will wait until it has a good soaking and warm enough.

T Weed, I normally don't agree with you, but I must recognize that you're spot on the advice for Zoysia. However, you forgot to mention another very important thing about Zoysia: the type of fertilizer.

Mphollins, don't just drop any fertilizer off the shelve from big box stores (usually high on nitrogen) on Zoysia like you would bermuda - you'll have death; I mean Thatch and thatch = failure.

A bag of fertilizer for Zoysia in lieu of a soil test should read like this: 16-4-8; Tweed, can you corroborate?

The squeaky wheel gets the grease...judging from those pics, I would start squeaking and stop only when the dead and/or dormant sod has been replaced. Otherwise, mowing low and often will help the Empire fill in. As for a time frame for filling in, I don't know, but I doubt the lawn will be meeting your expectations by July or August.

You might try Ironite to see if that will help out some. I just bought some (in 40 lb bags) from Home Depot, and put it on my new Empire Zoysia (a few days ago) that was sodded a few weeks ago in the Atlanta area. My Empire grass is already a darker shade of green (just days after the Ironite was applied) and is doing very nicely.

I understand that Empire Zoysia really loves Iron, and have read that Ironite is a perfect solution in that respect. I plan to apply Ironite four times a year. Have others had success with Ironite?

Please note that my sod was not in perfect shape when I installed it myself (it had some thatch and yellowing). I actually bought about 2/3rds of a pallet from Home Depot to replace an area of partially shaded Bermuda on a slope. The Bermuda was not doing well from the partial shade and erosion was occurring from a lot of recent heavy rains.

Evidentally, the sod had been sitting on Home DEpot's lot for a couple of days because it had some thatch and was starting to yellow. I put out a 10-10-10 starter fertizer and watered it in for a few weeks (and it rained a good bit also). Then I added Ironite. I also had gently raked out most of the thatch a couple of times using a metal leaf rake. Now, the Empire is looking very good. In fact, I like it so much that I will soon add 5 more pallets (but this time delivered directly from a sod farm), and I'll get some help to install it quickly. I plan to till the soil and add top soil, humus (and lime if needed) prior to installing the sod.

Anyways good luck with your lawn. Ironite might help some, but that one area where most of your sod looks dead may take a while to recover if not replaced.

Thanks for the suggestions, I bugged the landscape company, Budget Landscaping to replace the sod. I watered, it rained and it never improved. Since, I paid for a green lawn, not a brown lawn, I requested they replace the sod, cause it was in bad shape coming off the truck. So they ordered a new shipment and replaced the sod. What a difference, it does not look like the same grass that was originally installed. Thanks for the advice about the Ironite at Home Depot I plan to use this on the lawn. I am going to follow through and order more Empire Zoysia for another area in my lawn, but not from Budget Landscaping. I will save $600 on the project by DIY. Where do I purchase the right fertilizer for Empire in Atlanta, GA?

Look on Google your local Lesco/John Dealer, they should have slow release fertilizer for Zoysia lawns.

Look for Poly Plus Technology on the bag, you might also want to put down some crabgrass pre-emergent in late summer to early Fall to avoid winter weeds and other grassy weeds like POA ANNUA.

I know they sell 19-2-19 and 5-10-17 with .95% Ronstar.