Caring for your drought tolerant Zoysia
Hi Jen,
How do I care for my new zoysia?
Carlos
Carlos,
Water your new sod everyday for the first 10 days then every other day for 10 days. If it rains you can skip those days. Water as needed when you first observe wilting, and water longer and less often to promote deep rooting of the grass. Zoysia is more drought resistant and when fully established has a deep root system. It should only be watered when showing signs of water stress. Indication of water stress is when the blade begins to curl inward. One of the most common mistakes of watering Zoysia is actually over watering due to it drought tolerance and overall low water requirements.
Zoysia grasses are best cut at a height of one to two inches. Begin mowing when weeds or Zoysia becomes 3inches thick and rooted. If you can easily pick up the sod square do not mow. This means your zoysia has not rooted. When mowing never cut more than half the blade length of a grass. This can dry out sod and prevent good growth. For ideal results mow from opposite directions every mowing to prevent regular training of grass blades in one uniform angled direction. When weed eating the outer edges of Zoysia grasses where grass meets objects be careful not to trim to far in or deeply. The best cut height is 1 to 2 inches in full sun and 2 to 2.5inches in heavily shaded areas.
Fertilization requirements are lower for Zoysia than many other lawn grasses. Fertilize in April, June, and August. Applications of 2-4lbs of nitrogen per 1000 sq ft annually. Over fertilization will result in severe thatching.
Did you know that Zoysia grasses have a high silica content which the blades become tougher the longer the leaf is allowed to grow? Trial Tests have documented that Zoysia grasses can be mown up to ten times less per season than St. Augustine grass. This can be a considerable savings in maintenance cost. 
zoysia
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