We moved recently and ended up with a yard that consisted of rocks and clay mud. Some topsoil lay in a large mound across the driveway. After we spread the topsoil over as much of the clay as possible, there was still more clay than dirt in the front yard. I raked and raked rocks. Then, I raked some more rocks.
I remembered all the ads I had seen for zoysia grass over the years. I decided to see if this grass might work for this yard, or lack of yard. I found the website easily. The prices were very reasonable. I placed an order for 300 Amazoy zoysia grass plugs. The zoysia plugs were scheduled to ship in March when it would then be optimal planting time for this area. This gave me some time to rake more rocks.
I waited and waited for the zoysia grass plugs. I was curious to see if they could possibly grow in this desolate dirt. Weeds and crabgrass had begun to sprout up by the time the zoysia plugs arrived.
The Amazoy zoysia grass was touted to grow well in any soil, including clay mud. With strong roots, the zoysia grass can develop good roots by penetrating the ground and creating air passages. The Amazoy zoysia grass requires 2-3 hours of sunlight each day. In my front yard, it would receive that and more.
The plugs arrived and weren’t cut all the way through. The enclosed papers recommended planting the plugs the day received or within a couple of days. The temperatures outside were very high so it was a week before I managed to get the zoysia grass in the ground. Checking the grass daily and misting lightly with water, the zoysia grass continued to grow in the box.
I planted the zoysia grass plugs one foot apart following the instructions. We did not own a plugger for digging the holes. Instead, my husband put a bit on his cordless drill and quickly made holes for the zoysia grass. You just have to love power tools.
The zoysia grass would grow quicker in areas without competing grass. Well, I decided to just see what would happen. The zoysia grass was also supposed to choke out weeds and replace other grasses. I decided that if there were too many weeds, I would remove them later. We watered our newly planted Amazoy zoysia grass plugs each evening to lessen the evaporation from the sun.
After two weeks, we fertilized the zoysia grass with fertilizer that guaranteed it would not burn the grass. I think it would have been smart at this point to do something with the weeds before distributing fertilizer, but I didn’t.
Zoysia grass needs less watering, less mowing, and is naturally resistant to insects. Sounds good to me, but we’ll see. I looked at the plugs daily. Before long, there were too many weeds and crabgrass; it was getting hard to find the zoysia grass.
One month after planting the zoysia grass plugs, I couldn’t determine where the zoysia grass began and the weeds ended. I cut the grass and let it rest two days. Then, it was time for weed killer granules that guaranteed it was safe for zoysia grass.
Three days later, our lawn was unrecognizable. There were big patches of yellow, dying weeds and crab grass. There were also patches of dark green zoysia grass. I was stunned. I had not thought the zoysia grass had already spread that far. Without the weeds, it was easy to see the zoysia grass. When I had been checking the zoysia grass for the last two weeks, I hadn’t even been looking at the right grass. I had been looking at the weeds.
Since then we have only had to water the zoysia grass when there is little rainfall. It’s supposed to take 2-3 growing seasons to completely fill in. I think it’ll be close to filled in by this fall. I haven’t decided whether or not to take plugs from the zoysia grass to spread it out to the backyard.
Blistering heat and cold winters won’t hurt Amazoy zoysia grass. Now I can sit back and watch the zoysia grass grow across the yard. I’ll be watching the right grass this time.
