Empire Zoysia

Empire Zoysia

Empire Zoysia - The Reigning Zoysia King

Empire Zoysia is the big hitter and best selling Zoysia grass in Australia today. Often referred to as EZ grass, this name has a double meaning, EZ referring to how easy care the grass is, meaning surprisingly lower maintenance than other grasses, and EZ being the initials for Empire Zoysia.

Of all the Zoysia types in Australia, Empire seems to be one of the most adaptable varieties, growing in regions where other Zoysia types cannot grow due to cooler weather. Empire does very well as far South as Victoria. So for everyone living in a slightly cooler climate who wants a low maintenance Zoysia lawn, Empire will be one of the first choices to consider.

Lawn Care For Empire

Exempting it's excellent climate adaptability, Empire is very much a traditional Zoysia grass, it looks great, has a slightly olive colour, and has that unique tapering leaf of Zoysia. Empire has very good shade tolerance, not as good as Buffalo, but far superior to Kikuyu and Couch.

Lawn care for any Zoysia, and for Empire is surprisingly simple. It's renowned for it's naturally superior weed, pest and disease resistance, so these lawn issues are far less when compared to other grass types.

Switch off the automatic reticulation, and only water Empire when it shows signs of needing a drink. Fertilise in mid to late Autumn and again in Spring, and mow when necessary - which isn't very often compared to other lawn types. And it's as simple as that, and that's why people everywhere call Empire… EZ…

For a masterpiece Empire lawn, fertilise and water a little more often, and mow with a Cylinder Mower.

Special Breeding of Empire Turf

Empire was one of the very first Zoysia types to be especially bred by turf experts. As soon as the massive qualities of Zoysia over other lawn types became known to enough of the right people, specialised breeding began to develop a Zoysia that could be grown in as many different climate types as possible. Prior to this, the only people who had Zoysia as an option were those who lived in tropical and sub tropical regions.

The people who bred Empire Zoysia succeeded in their aims, and created a Zoysia so widely adaptable that many more people could now enjoy all the benefits that Zoysia brings as a high quality, and remarkably low maintenance and environmentally friendly lawn type.

* For people living in cooler regions, we can still only recommend to research any Zoysia type prior to planting, and especially try to see Zoysia growing in your region first. Phone your local Empire supplier to ask about this. See our article Where Can I Buy Zoysia for grower details in your region.

Winter Lawn Care For Empire Zoysia

Generally speaking - some Zoysia grasses can be a problem in Winter which is due to Zoysia's origins in tropical regions. However Empire (and Nara) easily break this rule more so than other Zoysia types based on their specific breeding histories to make them more adaptable in more environments, and the breeders of both grass types succeeded in their aims and bred highly adaptable Zoysia lawns.

In regions where frost and cold nights occur, Empire may be prone to brown off in Winter, this is normal for many grass types in the same cooler regions, and EZ will generally not brown off as badly as Shademaster or some other Buffalo types. And EZ lawn will will almost always green up faster than any Buffalo Grass in the Spring.

Ongoing quality testing by the people at Empire have conclusively shown that fertilising Empire Turf with a quality slow release fertiliser in mid to late Autumn does wonders for Empire over the Winter. Keeping the Empire lawn greener for longer over Winter, considerably reducing and sometimes eliminating browning, and speeding the greening process of Spring substantially for all lawns.

When To Plant Empire Zoysia

Zoysia will always have it's roots in the tropics, and will always be a slow growing turf compared to other lawn types (which makes Zoysia require so little mowing), with this in mind, it's always best to remember to plant Empire at the right time of the year when lawns are most actively growing, otherwise we may run into problems trying to establish a new Zoysia lawn at a time when the turf is dormant.

As a general rule, for Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne and Perth - don't plant Empire Turf anytime from mid Autumn through Winter. Sydney's west can get away with only not planting in Winter.

Other Zoysia Lawn Reviews
Compadre Zoysia
Nara Zoysia

Credit: thanks to Empire Turf for their assistance with this article

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