Will A Freeze After A Warm Spell Hurt My Zoysia?

Q: With this warm weather, it appears that my zoysia grass is coming out of dormancy too soon. If we get a frost, or a few consecutive days of freezing weather, will it kill or damage the established grass? Michael Hoffman. 

A: Low temperatures after a spring warm spell might cause grass tips to turn brown but they certainly wouldn’t kill the grass. Zoysia is very fickle about when it turns green. Much depends on soil temperatures but slow greenup might also be caused by applying nitrogen too early (soil temps need to be 65 degrees or higher). Maybe the thatch layer is too thick, preventing soil warm-up. It could be previous year misapplications of fertilizer or herbicides. And Yes, unpredictable and irregular weather patterns can wreak havoc with greenup. The grass variety plays a big part in when a lawn turns green. In some years zoysia grass won’t be completely green until June.