Zoysia – Seeding

Q: When I moved into my house, I noticed that half of my front yard is zoysia. I love it. I want to kill the non-zoysia grass and weeds and replace it with zoysia. Should I kill the grass and plug it or seed it?

A: Zoysia is a great lawn grass but it is slow to establish, whether from seed, sod or plugs. If you are willing to completely kill the non-zoysia area, till it thoroughly, and rake it smooth, you can use ‘Zenith’ zoysia seed. If you water and fertilize properly you’ll have good coverage by fall. Seeding into the existing area without killing the weeds first will usually yield a patchy appearance for at least the first year.