PLEASE help with new Zoysia (Empire) sod

12 years ago

I have relatively new Zoyzia Empire (a little more than 2 months old). It started establishing well; then I noticed some areas do not grow roots, some areas have fungus. I hired TruGreen - after 1 month with them the grass became even worse - I do not know exactly if it is worse because of TruGreen care or something else, but anyway I fired TG and decided to put the grass on organic program. The problem is I do NOT know what to start with: TG heavily fertilized, put fungicide on, however the grass DO have fungi now, still do NOT have roots somewhere... What should I do now to fight diseases, make the grass healthy and weed free. I let it grow about 4 inches to fight weeds. Also found about 40 green and white cartepillars on 1 sq. ft of the grass recently - removed them by hand...When I dig - find some grub as well. Sprayed nematodes, cooper, organic insecticide, molasses, soap, Turf Pro.... It is not getting any better.

Please, help, could anybody recommend a full year-round programm to care for the grass from this point on?

P.S. I have 9K sq ft lot. and cannot find large amounts of corn meal and corn gluten on reasonable prices in my area (Daytona Beach, FL).

I will appreciate all comments and advice. Thank you all in advance!

Comments (7)

Kimmsr
12 years ago
Did you purchase this sod and install it your self or did you hire a landscaper to do that?
What was the soil like before this sod was laid?
ZoysiaLady
Original Author
12 years ago
I live in Florida, and soil here is sandy, but I tested pH - it was 6-6.5 -7 in different zones, never higher that 7, and I know that Zoysia can tolerate pretty broad range of pHs, and thus I hoped it would be OK for the grass. Upper inch of my property is not sandy, but dark from previous grasses, I guess, and I added 1 more inch of topsoil before sodding. Yes, we sodded ourselves.
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Got bad news for you. You have watered it to death. What you have now is a fungal disease. It could be brown patch (if you want to look it up) or something else. The grass that is yellowish or brown now is dead and will not come back. You'll have to rely on the rest of the grass coming back to fill in. I'm not sure how fast Palisades will return. Is Palisades the shade tolerant one??? If so I have something similar. If that's what we're talking about, it is probably gone for the season and will return in 2011. If it is not the shade tolerant one, then you have too much shade and it might be gone forever. Most zoysias like full sun. I have taken an organic approach to this disease since 2002 and have had superb results. Prior to that I had a terrible problem every spring. Now I apply ordinary ground corn meal at a rate of 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet and wait 3 full weeks. My turf is St Augustine, though, and it responds much MUCH faster than zoysia. For anyone else reading this, zoysia is not all it is cracked up to be in the magazines. If you are in zone 8, the predominant turf grasses are bermuda and St Augustine. Most of the zoysia lawns I have seen in my neighborhood have converted to St Augustine within the first year due to disease issues. We have one zoysia lawn around the corner that is starting its 3rd year with no issues. I watch it very closely.
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How often are you watering? How much rain are you getting? I don't know St Aug grass very well, but if you're still watering the way you were when the sod was first put in, you're probably watering too much, which could be giving you fungal problems or saturating the soil and killing the grass roots.
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You will not be over-watering. You will want to keep watering on that schedule for as long as the heat wave lasts. You will want to water 4 times per day for the first 12-14 days. Then when you can't pull the sod up because the roots are taking hold, that is when you start to back off the watering frequency to allow for deeper root growth. Remember, do not over-fertilize zoysia. Zoysia only needs about 2-3 lbs. N/1000 sq.ft. per year. Mow at 2" height of cut. For the rest of this first season, I would advise you to collect your clippings. Also, be observant of turf disease during this time of heavy watering in hot, humid weather. I hope you enjoy the beauty of your new zoysia lawn.
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You can spray it with a fungicide, but the grass is already dead. Those are fungal disease spots. This is the main reason why people get rid of their zoysia grass lawns. What you will find is the spot will turn brown for the rest of the season. There is nothing you can do to make it come back any faster. I suppose you could carve out a spot from a different part of the lawn that fits and plug it in. But then I would expect the new piece to die from the same disease. The normal organic approach to fungal disease is to scatter ordinary corn meal at 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet. Give that three weeks and the disease should be gone. That will not help get the new grass to fill in, though.
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Kimmsr
12 years ago
The term "topsoil" is meaningless because all that "topsoil" is is the top 4 to 6 inches of soil from someplace.
Sandy soils, in Florida or anywhere else, tend to drain really well and they do not retain much soil moisture so unless the soil was amended well with organic matter, which will aid in moisture retention, your grass may not have enough water to grow.
To root well grasses need 4 to 6 inches of a good soil, well endowed with organic matter, that is evenly moist but well drained.
ZoysiaLady
Original Author
12 years ago
What would you advise? Should I spread compost now and in fall, would it help if I add compost little by little every month? Thank you.
Kimmsr
12 years ago
You could add, and I would, some compost or other forms of organic matter every month as long as it is not thick enough to smother the grass. Compost probably would be somewhat better initially because that has the wee buggers that make up the Soil Food Web in it so your soil will then have some to later digest other forms of organic matter.
ZoysiaLady
Original Author
12 years ago
Thank you for your advice: I added peat moss and compost last weekend. I will add them every month. Would you advise to add TurfPro as well - it is much easier to addd than moss and compost? Should I fertilize or compost is sufficient? What else organic matter can I add: I am so desperate to help those grass to survive :)? Should I spray nematodes? What about molasses over compost? would it feed benificial life in compost? Thank you very much!
gatornation81
12 years ago
I have had my Empire Zoysia for three months now with no issues(yet). I just put coffee grinds and soybean meal down.
I'm about to get some cornmeal since it's starting to rain a lot now.

PLEASE help with new Zoysia (Empire) sod

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ZoysiaLady
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PLEASE help with new Zoysia (Empire) sod

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Kimmsr

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