Tel me about your Zoysia lawn please

[Anonymous]

We are considering it for an area in our yard that is just impossible. This part is on a hill, south facing, and the heat just kills the grass.
I have heard that Zoysia can be invasive and take over the whole yard, even flower beds. How long does that take? I can tolerate the brown in winter, but how long does it take to green up.
Will it be hard to keep to one area?
TIA

[Anonymous]

I have a primarily fescue lawn, but my neighbor has Zoysia.

I hate the Zoysia.

[*] It looks [u]AWFUL from about October to May. It is brown, brown, brown, brown, brown. When I say brown, I mean BROWN. Not "browning," the way most grasses are in the winter. I mean BROWN. Like hay. It looks like hay.
[*] It is NOT weed-resistant. Neighbor's yard is full of weeds, which are quite green when the lawn is brown. It looks terrible.
[*] It takes over. It is completely taking over my fescue, I find it in my flowerbeds (I have to weed it out of my flowerbeds at least once per week), and it can break through weed barrier cloth. It spreads through runners, which go EVERYWHERE, including over the edge of the cement. It is difficult to edge it because of the way it grows.
[*] It might look nice from May to October, and does grow "straight up," which looks nicer than grass that lies down as it gets long, but it grows extremely quickly, so it has to be mowed often.
[*] Because it takes over, yet looks COMPLETELY different than fescue, bluegrass, or ryegrass, it looks weird in the fall, winter, and spring, when all the other grass is green or browning, but the Zoysia is completely brown.

[Anonymous]

We have the same front lawn as you, OP. South facing hill. While the browning of the grass does pccur, it doesn't bother me at all. In fact, I think it's more seasonally appropriate than a green lawn in January.

My front lawn is almost weed free. It's like a golf course. It's thick and lush. It is drought resistant and is still green now even though our neighbors yards are dead.

I have had no issues with it being overly aggressive. We have planting beds across the front and side yard and a third planting bed in the yard. I clear out the spreaders once a year. We've had these beds for years. Crab grass is 1000x more invasive than zoysia.

If I could get it to grown in our back yard, I would. Unfortunately it's too shady there.

I think it is brown from November to mid April.

I love our lawn.

[Anonymous]

Everyone I know who has Zoysia loves it.

[Anonymous]

Love ours, I can't remember when it greens up but when it does, it looks better than the other grasses around it.

[Anonymous]

I once had a neighbor who had it and I hated it. Brown from mid fall to May and it is not nice to walk on barefoot - too stiff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I once had a neighbor who had it and I hated it. Brown from mid fall to May and it is not nice to walk on barefoot - too stiff.

This doesn't bother me. I think it's more odd to have a bright green lawn year round in this area.

[Anonymous]

My parents switched our lawn to zoysia when I was kid, after it filled in it was miserable to play out there. It was uncomfortable to walk on or sit on, and we basically just stopped using the yard during the summer. I wouldn't do it unless your yard is purely for show and you don't actually use it.

[Anonymous]

We have it in our front yard (on a hill) and love it. It doesn't grow as fast, so we only need to mow every 2-3 weeks in the high season. The downside is that it'll be brown soon!

Not sure why people think it's not comfortable to walk on - it's fine right now? Maybe that's in winter? We all wear shoes outside, so haven't had issues...

We have a few weeds in the yard, but not nearly as many as the parts of our yard with other grasses. We have been pretty happy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have it in our front yard (on a hill) and love it. It doesn't grow as fast, so we only need to mow every 2-3 weeks in the high season. The downside is that it'll be brown soon!

Not sure why people think it's not comfortable to walk on - it's fine right now? Maybe that's in winter? We all wear shoes outside, so haven't had issues...

We have a few weeds in the yard, but not nearly as many as the parts of our yard with other grasses. We have been pretty happy.

Is it creeping into the other lawns in your yard?

[Anonymous]

Hate it. It is an eyesore for most of the year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hate it. It is an eyesore for most of the year.

+1 especially when part of the lawn is zoysia and part is other grass.

[Anonymous]

Love, love, love our zoysia. Not sure why people find it stiff. My kids and I are always in our yard barefoot--it feels like plush carpeting. We have a little clover, but no other weeds. The zoysia has not overtaken our flower beds.

Yes, it is dormant in the winter. I don't need green grass in the winter though, so it doesn't bother me. It is nice and green during the months we spend the most time in the yard.

[Anonymous]

My neighbor has it and I hate it - not because it turns brown but because I can't keep it out of my beds and yard. It's incredibly invasive and hard to get rid of. Each spring, I take weedkiller and spray the property line. I then edge the property line. I still have it to aggressively weed it out of my beds/yard and it's not easy. It spreads by roots and it's hard to get them all. If you leave even the smallest amount underground, it sprouts anew. Sort of like dogbane in that respect. It sucks.

FWIW - I'm not a grass fanatic. My lawn isn't fabulous but the zoysia stands out and, of course, I don't want grass in my flower beds.

[Anonymous]

I have it by the road and it is great - tough so if people park on the lawn it doesn't hurt it. It has slowly been spreading down the edge of the yard. The folks before us started it with some plugs from another neighbor.