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HELP! Emerald Zoysia lawn care!

14 years ago

Hi All,

After getting tired of dealing with landscapers that have no idea what they're doing or talking about, I decided to try and revitalize my lawn myself.

I live in Hawaii. I have about a 3,000 sq/ft lawn of Emerald Zoysia grass that's growing over clay (volcanic red soil). The lawn gets sun and water daily and the temp hardly drops below 80. When I first moved into the house about a year ago the majority of the lawn was weeds. The previous owners said it used to look like a putting green, but years of neglect allowed clovers and other weeds to take over.

I've spent the majority of the last few weeks hand picking out all the weeds. What I'm left with is a spotty yard that is uneven in level, has a lot of brown spots and some spots with no grass at all. I want the yard to look good again and with the research I've been doing online- I've seen some mixed opinions. Here is the order I've been told to do things...1) spread weed killer to kill remaining weeds 2) fertilize to bring back any remaining weeds 3) spread weed killer again 4) re-seed.

So, in order for me to kill the remaining weeds, bring life back to brown areas and also re-seed in areas that have no grass whats the best way to go about this? AND, what products should I use?

I have a big bag of Ronstar G. I'm told this will work good, and I can put some in a seed spreader and just apply a topical coat of this stuff. Then I should wait and fertilize.

Well, what type of fertilizer should I use? What works best to help Emerald Zoysia?

In addition, what should I do about re-seeding? The tough thing is, because of our location, there are no places that sell any Emerald Zoysia seeds, plugs or sod; so I'm kind of stuck.

I found generic Zoysia Grass seeds at my local store. I don't care if it's slightly difference in appearance, so will this work to reseed bare areas? How long will it take? I've heard Zoysia takes up to a year to grow?

I know I need to mow it with a good reel mower (front throw, McLain). The grass is so short, and has been so short, that I don't see mowing helping it at all. I've taken a weed whacker to the areas that are noticeably higher as well as the edging. I obviously want the grass to grow back before I mow again.

To summarize that long post, I guess what I'm looking for answers to is:

-What is the best type of weed killer for Emerald Zoysia?

-What is the best type of fertilizer to make it green again?

-What is an alternative grass I can seed the bare areas with to blend in since I can't reseed with Emerald Zoysia?

-Any other recommended care tips to bring my lawn back?

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Comment (1)

steveatzoysia
14 years ago
There are a few things I think I can help with.

- Weed Killer:

The best type of weed killer would be to use something like Weed Be Gone. Make sure that it is SELECTIVE, because if not, it could end up killing your grass, too. Steer clear of things like Round Up, because they will do this.

- Fertilizer:

Because of the nature of zoysia, be sure to get a water soluble fertilizer. There may be some specially formatted for zoysia grasses. DO NOT use regular granular fertilizers, because they could end up doing more harm than good and kill your grass.

- Bare Areas:

My suggestion would be to wait a little bit before trying to fill those spots. The great thing about zoysia is that it fills in and spreads, so your spots should be taken care of in a little.

I hope this helps! Best of luck, and let me know if you have any more questions.

-Steve
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