Zoysia Farms Rep Comments about my planting methods
8 June 2009Company representative comment on June 02, 2009:
Planting methods are completely up to the individual and their circumstances. Over the years we have heard numerous alternative methods to the one we recommend. Just about any of them will work as long as the basic planting principles are followed. The posting is certainly one of the alternatives we hear most commonly. In this case planting the complete piece of sod and in the future to use it to withdraw plugs for future plantings. It is the easiest, simplest and quickest way to get the grass in the ground and growing. This will work.
The down side is that it will spread the slowest under this method. Zoysia grass spreads tenaciously but slowly by sending out rhizomes (shoots beneath the soil) and stolon shoots that spread above ground across the soil. Planting complete pieces of 10 inch by 15 inch sod, the total outside linear area from which the stolons can spread is 50 inches (10+10+15+15). Planting 150 individual plugs one-inch square (4 linear inches each) the linear area is 600 inches. More work yes, but that’s a lot of additional spreading area.
In the first year Zoysia grass puts most of its energy into establishing itself in its new home and does not do much spreading. In the second growing season it will start to spread and fill in the adjacent areas and continue to do so until it is fully filled in.
Our recommendations for the most economical and fastest fill in method, is to plant 1 square inch plugs. For faster fill in plant more plugs closer together.
Areas by roads can be very hot in the summer and get road salt in winter which makes for difficult growing for most grasses, but Zoysia is also very salt tolerant and we have heard from many customer who have had great success in similar locations to this.
One last thing, I enjoyed reading this blog. It is very nicely done.
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