Zoysia Lawn Considerations

Who Shouldn't Choose A Zoysia Lawn

We understand that Zoysia will not be the best lawn for everybody. There are many other considerations which homeowners need to consider before choosing their next lawn, and whether Zoysia will or will not be that lawn type.

First will be the homeowners own preference for any particular grass type, and then other factors which come into play will be region and climate, and expected wear and tear that the new lawn may experience.

So here are some of the considerations for homeowners to think about before deciding of laying a new Zoysia lawn, as opposed to another lawn type.

Colder Regions

Zoysia is not a good grass choice for all the coldest regions of Australia. Zoysia loves the warmth, and can take humidity with ease, and types such as Empire and Nara can almost go Australia wide. If you live in a colder region, then Zoysia may not be the lawn choice for your home.

Manicured Lawn

If you want the manicured lawn look, then Zoysia may… or may not still be the perfect lawn for you. Zoysia can be care free, as well as manicured to a lovely finish. We'll cover these factors next.

What Is A Manicured Lawn

A manicured lawn is something we all might long for. It's that perfect looking lawn, green all year round, without blemishes, cut with a cylinder mower and resembling a bowling green!

Make no mistake, Zoysia can be this perfect manicured lawn! A little extra water, a good year round fertilising and lawn care program, and Zoysia will perform beautifully for this purpose.

But there are other things to consider…

In most of the cooler areas of Australia, many Zoysia lawns may brown off a little over the Winter, and the homeowner will have to ask themselves if this is OK with them? This browning off can be equal to other grass types, and may be less than the browning off that occurs with a grass like Shademaster for example.

For us, and with our belief that lawns must become far more environmentally and user friendly, and that Zoysia is the very best grass to achieve this for most Australians… We look at Zoysia grass as a far more "natural" lawn.

What we mean by this is that many of our plants and our trees go through their natural seasons, some trees may lose their leaves, plant leaves may change colour, roses get pruned back, and bulbs will go into dormancy.

So why not bring our lawns into this same cycle of the seasons? A little browning off over Winter simply shows our lawns and gardens are going through the seasons, and we reckon that's OK. But the homeowner in the cooler regions of Australia will need to make this choice for themselves.

A little more research into the different Zoysia types will reveal more on this, and also reveal that some Zoysia types will green up at speed over other grasses such as Buffalo in Springtime in many cooler regions.

Compadre Zoysia

Many of these slight browning off effects of Zoysia in Winter in the temperate climates can of course be overcome by using Compadre Zoysia, which was especially bred to be blended with a Cool Season grass, which will then keep the lawn green all year round in these temperate climates.

However, without this overseeding in the cooler climates, Compadre may brown off more than other Zoysia types.

Compadre Zoysia

Empire and Nara Zoysia

These two Zoysia grasses will tolerate cooler weather better and brown off less than other Zoysia types without the need to overseed with a cool climate grass type. This factor is mainly due to the increased growing speed which was specially bred into both these Zoysia types.

However, these two more cold tolerant Zoysia types will still become dormant and brown off in the colder climates. Most noticably browing off slightly quicker than Couch and Buffalo, but then re-greening faster than both grasses in Spring.

Empire Zoysia
Nara Zoysia

You Love Putting Time Into Your Lawn

Alternatively, if you're a person who loves spending a lot of time on your lawns with lawn mowing, fertilising and edging as a means to spend more time in the garden, then Zoysia may not be the best lawn for you, Zoysia is just too easy to care for and is extremely low maintenance.

Heavy Wear and Tear Lawns

If your lawn area will be subject to heavy wear and tear from kids, dogs, sports or cars, then Zoysia may not be the best lawn. While Zoysia does have excellent wear and toughness characteristics to withstand damage, it's slower growth rate when compared to other aggressive grasses like Couch will mean Zoysia may not keep up with the repair rates required under heavy wear and tear conditions. We believe that most lawns will not fit into these extreme requirements.

Therefore we believe Zoysia is almost perfect for most homes in Australia!