Hello,
I made this video series in hopes of helping other people interested in trying to seed Zoysia grass. When I investigated it, there was little to nothing on the web. All I found was greenhouse videos in a controlled environment. I decided to research it and try it myself. I have just over 6,000 sq feet of yard today. That meant 3 of the 2 lb bags of seed. I chose to do 5 bags to increase my yield chances.
My process included mowing the grass as low as possible, spraying round up every 3 – 5 days until it was all dead, then waiting a little longer for it to get “crunchy” so it would be easier to dethatch. I ran into a little pause in my plan as we got some high temps in May in NC which would be fine. However, it was followed by cooler weather. My research showed not to plant it until you got night temps consistently at 70 or over. That changed my plans. I originally planned to plant in late May but wound up waiting until midJune due to weather.
I planted in a sand base to hold the seed in place. The seed is VERY small. I then watered often. My thought was to keep the sand wet and not to try to soak the ground below. No need for that until the roots are ready to grow deeper. I watered via a Rachio smart sprinkler on intervals. I went from 6 to 4 to 2 hours, depending on the heat and local rain. I wanted to just keep it wet. I saw grass coming through in 12 days. The documentation says 25 – 30 days for full germination and this first video covers my progress through that first 3o days.
I will be posting more updates through the rest of the season in NC and next year as the season comes around. According to what I have read, I may have a full yard of coverage by then. This is a slow process but its considerably cheaper than sodding the grass. Honestly, I just wanted to try it as I really like the grass and look forward to seeing it grow. Worst case, I will add some sod next season in areas that need. It. However, I am pleased with what I see after a month or so. I have good coverage so far and will now add fertilizer and change my watering to less often but more soaking to pull the roots deeper into the soil.
Subscribe for updates as I plan on doing monthly updates at the least until the season comes to an end with our first frost.
I’m no expert. Just a guy that was curious and wanted to try to seed Zoysia grass.
I used Emerald Zoysia seed from Super Sod. Its about $80 a bag and I used 5 bags. $400 total
https://www.supersod.com/products/gra...
I used just under $500 of sand including delivery. I also paid a local landscaper friend to put out the sand. That was a larger job and I wanted to get help there. I did all the prep myself which included killing the grass, cutting and bagging it, and then dethatching the grass and getting that up. A riding mower with a bagger was very helpful here. All in all, I had about $1200 into supplies. Sod was between $3600 plus labor to prep and install it. Approximate estimates were between $5000 and $7000 depending on individual companies and their quotes.
Glad to help with your questions. I may not know the answer, but your local Super Sod or equivalent store should be able to help you.