Problem area in Zoysia Z52 lawn

15 years ago

We built and moved into a new home in October. We put in a zoysia Z52 lawn that was gorgeous when it was installed and continued to be gorgeous right up until it went dormant. This spring it has been beautiful and neighbors are always commenting on it. However, one very large area (approx. 15 ft. x 4 ft.) near the roadway suddenly began to look awful about 3 weeks ago. We are on a corner lot, so we have a lot of lawn that is adjacent to the roadway. Only in this one section does it look so bad. Close inspection shows brown foliage that is easily pulled, with very little green. It is well rooted and does not pull up easily, and I can see no evidence of insects. We bag all grass clippings to prevent buildup of thatch. We have had sufficient rain up until the past couple of weeks. We have run the irrigation system 3 times per week during this dry time. The soil feels sufficiently moist, just like the rest of the lawn, but looking at the grass itself, you'd think it wasn't being watered well. We have used the same lawn care company for feeding and weed prevention for several years. It has had 4 treatments since the first of the year ... the two earliest ones were pre-emergent for weed prevention, one time release fertilizer, one liquid application of iron and insecticide just last week (after the problem appeared).

We cut the grass at the recommended height for zoysia. We are totally at a loss as to the problem, and are very concerned that it is going to spread into the entire EXPENSIVE large lawn. Are there problems with this particular grass that are unique, that perhaps we are not aware of? We had learned, we thought, that this particular grass was the most trouble-free and beautiful of all.

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stephaniehar_windstream_net

15 years ago

Three weeks ago we laid Empire Zoysia sod down and watered it for the first two days. We first tilled the soil, then added topsoil before laying the sod. The location of the sod is on a lagoon one block from the Ocean in South Florida. The area has presently been receiving a lot of thunder storms. However, we left the home after a few days, forgetting to turn the sprinklers on. We were gone for five or six days and came back to a mostly brown lawn. Since then we have been watering it daily. Will the sod come back to its original green? What can we do? Thank you for your anticipated help.

Comments (8)

yarddoctor
15 years ago
Dear Blumz

Thank you very much for your inquiry. I am sorry for your troubles. I have some questions as the answer here is not readily apparent. First, is the brown grass pattern in a shape or random? Is there green tissue at the base of the plant? Can you get a few pictures, both close up and far to put things into perspective? What state do you live in?

Respectfully

Trey Rogers, The Briggs & Stratton Yard Doctor, YardDoctor.com
blumz
Original Author
15 years ago
Sorry that the holiday kept me from getting back sooner. We live in Central Alabama. Zone 8a. We had regular good rain up until about 2 weeks ago, but our irrigation system seems to be keeping most of the lawn looking good. However, this very large area, which is continually growing, looks as if it is not being watered. I convinced my husband to use a garden tool to lift a section of the sod and I discovered that the soil in the original sod, which is very thick, is moist; however the soil underneath it is so dry, it appears that it hasn't received a drop of water in months. We then went to other places in the lawn that appeared to be in the beginning stages of the same thing .... lifted sections of sod and found the same thing.
The side yard where the problems are is on a slope, so you'd think the water would be running down and the lawn at the bottom would be in the best condition. However, the problem areas are at the bottom of the slope.

So apparently, lack of water is the problem, brought on by a soil problem. I don't know how were going to replace the soil in an entire lawn.
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If those patches are consistently like that every year then there is a good chance that you have patches of Zoysia grass there (it could be Bermuda too, but I doubt it). Zoysia is a warm season grass, it goes dormant around your first frosts, turns tan, stays like that till soil temps are warm enough to break dormancy. Zoysia is a spreading grass, and from your pic it looks like it has sent out some "tenticles". Do a search on Zoysia and see if the tan grass you have resembles dormant Zoysia. If it isn't Zoysia get back to this thread, and we'll try to figure it out.
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Zoysia is glacially slow to refill once it has been killed by disease. Just out of curiosity, why did you decide to buck the system and not go with St Augustine? You will do yourself a huge favor in terms of minimizing future hassle, time, and cost if you just resod with St Aug right now. Get it over and done with. Otherwise you'll be sodding zoysia over and over to keep up with the brown spots. Every time I see a zoysia lawn go in in my neighborhood, I put it on the calendar. So far only one lawn has gone over 2 years. They are just starting their third year with no problems at all, so I guess I need to find out what their secret is.
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I feel your pain on Zoysia. I absolutely HATE this stuff. You really need to use a non-selective weed killer. Not to sound like an ad, but I stick with RoundUp. You want something that works very fast, because you WILL need multiple applications in order to feel confident you killed it. Drench the whole area with RU. Do not cut the lawn at this point since RU is absorbed through the green leaves, so the more green available the better. Then, wait a few weeks and get up close and personal and again hit any green you see with RU. You may at this point want to trim it back a little shorter (maybe cut the top 1/3). This will allow you to see whether there is any green underneath. Wait another two to three weeks, then do it again. I know this sounds excessive, but you are taking on the Ivan Drago of grasses. You will likely want to remove the dead Zoysia because it is would be impossible to seed through a lawn as thick a Zoysia. Because this is a very time consuming process, I usually being the process in July. I chose July because: 1) the Zoysia will have FINALLY turned green by then and 2) October is the best time to plant grass seen in Maryland. Still working on ridding my yard of this weed and perfecting my technique, but it seems to have worked so far. This post was edited by Towsonite on Thu, May 1, 14 at 23:26
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yarddoctor
15 years ago
Dear Blumz,

Thank you very much for your inquiry. I am confused. If you have rooting and then dry areas then I would check irrigation coverage. There may be some gaps you are not aware of and do not present themselves until there is a dry period.

If there is little rooting, then there is a soil compatibility issue. The soil in your yard does not match the soil brought in with the sod. The soil on the sod will hold water and stay wet, it will not move easily into the original soil. This will hamper rooting and drainage.

The remedy for this is to have the soils not incompatible. Core cultivation is the answer. This will help the soils to be compatible. This should be done now and go over the yard at least two directions.

Again, thanks for the question and let me know if you have more.

Respectfully

Trey Rogers, The Briggs & Stratton Yard Doctor, YardDoctor.com
blumz
Original Author
15 years ago
Thank you for your response. For the past several days we have hand watered the problem area, in addition to the regular watering with the irrigation system. It appears to be improving with the additional water. Our builder has offered to have an additional sprinkler head installed that will better cover this area.

But even at that, there is obviously a problem with the two soils. The roots should have been able to establish themselves down into the existing soil in almost 10 months. What is core cultivation?
dallasbill
15 years ago
I would suggest laying down some fine-screened compost in those areas then watering it in. Do it again in about 2 weeks. It will build up the soil there and help retain water, too. Then, add it each year to the whole lawn.

We have zoysia (Empire) for 3 years now, but are totally organic. It always greens up before the St. Aug. around us and tolerates drought and heat superbly.

Quit pulling it up, though. Unlike other grasses, zoysia goes dormant in a drought (like it's experiencing in your case, it sounds like). It does not die out like St. Aug. would. Good luck.
Deborahmenchaca_yahoo_com
14 years ago
Hello, I live in San Antonio Texas. We have put down a total of 45 pallets of Zoysia grass. The front was put in over a year ago and is established but the back was only put in 3 weeks ago. We are now going through a drought and are limited to watering. At this time we can only water once a week and as of next week it will change to every other week. We have been having temperatures up to 103 degrees. Our grass was a beautiful green and is now turning yellowish brown and some gray looking areas. I guess my question is without enough water will the Zoysia die or go dormant?

Thanks so much!
joeytioga_yahoo_com
14 years ago
Why does my grass have brown patches. Half the lawn is very green healthy grass I've used the correct fertilizer and pest control. I water everyday. We live in Tampa Bay, Florida so the weather is good, we get enough rain and heat. So everything should be good. What is the problem? Can you please advise me what to do?

- Joe

Problem area in Zoysia Z52 lawn

stephaniehar_windstream_net

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