Zach's FY16 RENO-Rye to Zeon Zoysia

[Main_sail22]

Hoosier, I plan on just going with the Celsius WG as it has gotten great results for people on this forum, and was approved by the turf manager for use on zoysia. I do plan on using a test strip though as my experience has been to trust but verify. Would hate to murder my new lawn

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[Main_sail22]

Week 3 update: Well, the month of May has brought my area tons of rain (15 out of the 20 days were rain) and no sunshine and high 60's, so progress is still minimal on the Zoysia. I did however snap some pics of the front. I also am posting a pic of the herbicide I will use on the Purslane, recommendation of the sod farm management. Went to my local John Deere Landscaping store and purchased this 1 gallon of Eliminate for $52.95. I am doing a test patch in the back and will keep this forum updated as to the effectiveness on both the grass and weed.

[Spammage]

Should definitely kill any broadleaf weeds you may have, just won't help with any grassy weeds. Be careful not to apply if temps are 85+ (or maybe even 80+ on new sod) since it has 2,4-D in it.

[Main_sail22]

Spammage,
Absolutely...I have something else for the grassy weeds...the only kind of grass weed I have is actually Perennial Rye from my previous lawn...
Next 5 days are supposed to be below 80, with the 6th day being 85. Saturday rain showers, Sunday are PM showers, and Monday showers.

[hambone79]

After it becomes rooted well, see about renting a small motorized driveway roller from a rental store. They are a lot better at smoothing than a pull behind drum roller. I had big areas of fairways cut out and resodded right before a PGA event on one of my courses and I rented a full size highway asphalt roller and used the vibratory function to really smooth out all the seams and joints. If you can dampen the soil just enough where it's pliable, but not overly soft it would be ideal. If you go that route remember to mark your irrigation heads and do not roll over them! A good rolling may be more expensive upfront, but it will save you lots of sand and trouble later on trying to smooth it out. That's my professional opinion!

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[Main_sail22]

Hambone, I was worried about the seams...they were tight to begin with but after a week the sod pieces seemed to shrink a bit. I was hoping that the approaching summer would help the zoysia spread to fill in the creases quickly. Interesting about the driveway roller...never heard of that approach. This won't damage the turf at all?

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[hambone79]

Hambone, I was worried about the seams...they were tight to begin with but after a week the sod pieces seemed to shrink a bit. I was hoping that the approaching summer would help the zoysia spread to fill in the creases quickly. Interesting about the driveway roller...never heard of that approach. This won't damage the turf at all?

[ Post made via iPhone ]

Not at all. Now if you were to go out and do figure 8's and get all crazy I'm sure you could screw something up. But as far as going back and forth across the lawn, it shouldn't be a problem. I'm assuming your area is somewhat firm and would support the weight of a riding mower without leaving depressions or anything. I would consider a small asphalt driveway roller to be an ideal, best case scenario for rolling a new sod job. Now if you have gaps between joints I would recommend going around with mortar sand and spot leveling those before.

When professional sports teams and universities renovate with new sod, this is usually the method they use to get a very true surface immediately after install. They do it on a larger scale with a full size hwy. asphalt roller. Been there done it.

I'm just throwing this out there if you are wanting to achieve optimum results. A drum lawn roller may suffice in your situation, but likely with inferior results.

[Main_sail22]

Thanks hambone, I'll deff check this idea out! And you're right, the drum roller didn't do to much

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[LoneRanger]

^ What size roller and how much weight?

[Main_sail22]

^it was a standard 18x24 push roller you fill with water. Once filled, it weighed roughly 150-200 lbs.

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[Main_sail22]

Week 4 photos of sod install below. This week is the first week of solid sunshine and day temps in the 80's. Today I took I wire rake and thin out a lot of the thatch build up (roughly 2 wheelbarrows full). I then mowed SW/NE then SE/ NW to suck up additional thatch, then watered .25". Pictures show a lot of problem areas that I hope will fill in by end of summer. Again, sod is 1month old and sod was cut just as it began coming out of dormancy (neighbor has common Bermuda)






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[hambone79]

One thing about zoysia is you have to learn to be patient. It establishes slow and takes a really long time to heal from damage. I have quite a bit of Palisades Zoysia here at my house and I am really impressed with how aggressive it is. It really heals up fast and spreads fills out really quick. I recently added some plugs to an area about 3'x3' that was damaged by a faulty spreader with pre-m falling out and it has almost completely healed within a month. The area where I harvested the plugs is completely healed. It is not on par with the hybrid bermudas as far as spreading goes, but it doesn't like much being able to keep up.

[Main_sail22]

Hambone, you are right about being patient. I keep comparing my month old lawn to that of a 1 yr old established Bermuda lawn from the neighbor...and they don't even do anything! Zoysia is slow to grow and fill in, I still have a little bit of seems showing at 1 month, but I have seen a difference. I'll just keep at it with the watering and fert. The temps have just now begun maintaining the 80 degree benchmark so I should see drastic improvements from here on out. Any additional advise is more than welcome. I weed the yard by hand 2x a week and spray every other week (broad leaf weeds) to keep it looking somewhat maintained.

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[Main_sail22]

Just got the call today....I will be picking up my Toro Greensmaster 1000 next weekend. It's used, but a friend of mine at the golf course is selling it to me for $200. He is also going to backlap the blades for me. He said I just need to clean the carb a little. I know nothing about carbs so I might be on here asking for some advice. haha.

[Main_sail22]

Here are a few pics at week 5 front yard and back. On the side yard pic in the aft section, you can see where the sod farm gave me some dead pieces. I have contacted them and will be delivering replacement pieces in a few weeks free of charge.








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[LoneRanger]

Just got the call today....I will be picking up my Toro Greensmaster 1000 next weekend. It's used, but a friend of mine at the golf course is selling it to me for $200.

Seriously?!!

[Jayhawkmba]

Watering shaded areas....over do it and your issues will escalate 10 fold. Would you be able to identify "drought" stress in Zeon?

[Jayhawkmba]

Stole that mower! I cut my zoysia with a "less than sharp" blade after buying my reel....I didn't know what "sharp" was. Grass looked like it had rust (fungal) after....panic set in as I just installed the zoysia a month earlier. Don't be like me

[Main_sail22]

The individual backlapping the blades works at the golf course and does this for a living so I am trusting him...but to answer your question, no I am not sure what "Sharp" looks like as this is my first reel mower....guess we'll find out haha. I don't water when it's shady, we just received 1.5" of rain that morning, but the picture was taken in the evening after I got home from work.

Drought stress in Zoysia, from what I have read, begins to turn a silver/ blueish color. Eventually if it is dier need of water, it will go dormant...Am I right on this? The other reason the front looks a little rough is that I took a rake to it as it had massive amounts of thatch build up (one of those rakes with the flimsy wires for arms, not a legit bow rake) I filled a city garbage can up with thatch I took out of the yard. Not sure if this was a smart move or not but it's done now.

[Main_sail22]

Week 6 pics. First time the backyard got a haircut. Should be selling my rotary mower when the reel gets here next weekend.




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