Zoysia For Roadsides and Median Strips

Roadsides are perfect for Zoysia

Zoysia - The Very Best Choice For Low Use Government Areas

This Zoysia article is directed once again at Government, and specifically at the good men and women responsible for managing our roads and their accompanying nature strips, median strips, verges, roundabouts and every other area where they are responsible for planting and maintaining lawns and other plants.

Our strong suggestion - stop using Kikuyu and Couch - and start using Zoysia - exclusively.

The Problems of Couch and Kikuyu On Roadsides

Weedy Common Kikuyu on Roadsides
This noxious weed must be eliminated

Common Kikuyu is just plain weedy, it grows super fast, it invades all surrounding lawns through it's air-borne seeds, it's prone to weeds, creates havoc when it invades the natural environment, requires very high levels of maintenance, including more water, and needs more lawn mowing than all other grasses, it grows very tall very quickly, needs lots of weed killer to kill invading weeds, and lots of weed killer to actually kill the Kikuyu to stop it spreading.

Common Kikuyu - just plain weedy, damaging to the environment, very high maintenance, with very high maintenance costs associated too.

Couch is cheap to plant, grows almost anywhere, needs less mowing than Kikuyu, will not invade surrounding lawns like Kikuyu, and will not grow as tall as Kikuyu. However Couch still needs lots of water and fertiliser, is prone to weeds and diseases that require ongoing pesticide use, will invade surrounding gardens in it's planted area quickly and will look awful very quickly if left uncut.

Zoysia is the only responsible choice for these environments.

Zoysia For Areas Requiring Little Maintenance

Low maintenance area with Compadre Zoysia
Darwin - photo credit: Compadre Zoysia

For areas which require a lawn to be maintained to minimum standards, such as turfed areas which are designed for aesthetic values only, and will not be used by the general public - eg median strips and roundabouts… Zoysia is the ONLY clear winner.

For these areas, watering, fertilising and mowing costs can all be drastically reduced by using Zoysia instead of Couch or Kikuyu. The uses of weed killers for both weed control and which are normally used to control the spread of grasses in public areas can also be almost eliminated.

Low maintenance area with Empire Zoysia
Sydney - photo credit: Empire Zoysia

In just these areas alone, the savings in money from maintenance costs and the overwhelming environmental benefits from the reduction in use of water, fertiliser and chemicals, as well as the reduction of operating mowing equipment and the savings from reduction in staff costs to maintain these areas, makes Zoysia the ONLY lawn choice for these areas.

Zoysia Can Be Abused and Still Perform Better Than All Other Grasses

Many public grassed areas such as roadsides will not need to be kept as lawns, and Councils and other Works Departments want the lowest maintenance grass possible for these situations. And this is where Zoysia is once again the ONLY clear choice.

A no maintenance area with Empire Zoysia
Sydney - photo credit: Empire Zoysia

Through many successful departmental trials already conducted in different parts of the country, Zoysia has proven that it can be left without the need of additional water, without the need to apply any fertilisers, without needing weed killers, and without needing to be kept under control, and will rarely invade into areas where it's not wanted. And it's in these environments that Zoysia can get away with being mowed once or twice a year. While not all regions will gain these exact same results, they will be very close.

No other grass can perform like this except Zoysia, and we urge all good people responsible for planting and maintaining these areas to continue trials of Zoysia at an accelerated pace for the massive environmental benefit of Australia.

Zoysia for Ovals and Public Recreation Areas

We've covered this topic in another article already, so we won't go into all the specifics again but while we are speaking to Government, we must make mention of it again.

It is our strong belief that most areas which are maintained by Governments in Australia with Couch and Kikuyu must and should be replaced by Zoysia, and any remaining Kikuyu areas replaced by a Male Sterile Kikuyu.

The use of Zoysia will substantially reduce all maintenance costs, and reduce water and pesticide and fertiliser usages. Zoysia is simply the most environmentally responsible grass type available for use by Government in Australia.