The Zoysia Files

George Grand

Okay Joe, if you're for real about this, my lawn is on the right. Not hard to see the property line is it?

George Grand (of the Jersey Grand's)

George Grand

I can't WAIT to have a lawn that doesn't need water from the sprinkler system I paid 2 grand for, and looks like this.........

George Grand

Now, what you can't see, is the fact that the zoysia is about an inch high, and the green grass and weeds that are in fact still there, are three to four times taller. LOOKS LIKE ****! This is after 10 or 11 years.

George Grand (of the Jersey Grand's)

Strong Bad

Looks like the George Grand "Field of Dreams."

George Grand

The sun came out making for a slightly better observation. The burning bushes straight down the middle are mine, and about two feet from the property line.

George Grand

Still having trouble figuring out where the property line is? In just a couple short years, IT'LL BE NON-EXISTANT!!

I'd rather work sun-up to sundown having a nice looking piece of property, than a yardful of that zoysia trash, which will give me a lot of free time. CAPICHE?

George Grand (of the Jersey Grand's)

George Grand

Hi John!!

George Grand (of the Jersey Grand's)

Strong Bad

The infamous "Burning Bush!"

I hear George used that as a hiding spot once when he ran out of room in the house. Legend has it he hid a pair of vintage Advents in there, but a pack of squirrels dug out the drivers and used the empty speaker box to store nuts for the winter.

Buyer beware! Watch for some "Slightly Used" Advents for sale soon!




John

Strong Bad

Hi George!

Hope all is well up north!


John Strong (of the Balimer Strong's)

joe6pak

George.

I posted a message to you over on the other thread before I saw that you had started this thread in the off topic section. Please go back to the other thread and read my message over there.

Zoysia grass is the first to go dormant in the fall and the last to green in the spring. Your pictures are showing the zoysia in it dormant stage, so of course it looks the worst. My lawn in the summer will look and feel as nice as anybodys. You say zoysia needs no water. Damn maybe I need to come up north and check out some of that yankee zoysia. My southern rebel grass needs quite a lot of water. Or maybe it is the same grass, just a difference in climate.

I would post some pictures of my very green zoysia being mowed by a doe and two fawns but I am not able to post photos to this board. The deer really seem to like this grass. Send me an email at magic69rt@webtv.net. and I will send you one so you will see what I mean.

joe (I'm not a lazy , cheap, ****) sixpak

George Grand

Joe 6,

Thanks for the response. I apologize for the generalization of "lazy, cheap, ****."

I know that zoysia IN THE RIGHT HANDS, and in the RIGHT APPLICATIONS, can be a real treat. Hot, dry climate areas (Arizona, New Mexico, etc.) almost demand a zoysia type ground cover. It can be good for somebody in a real rural setting such as yours. It is NOT for a development like mine, and especially when the individual shows no concern for his actions and how they will impact others.

I put in enough work on this property trying to keep it a credit to the community. I am really crushed that by all appearances, all my labor will be for nothing.

As an aside, this guys stuff looks real bad year round. Even in the middle of the summer. It sure seems to like my property, but has yet to completely cover his, and as a result, it looks like crap. I just don't want that to happen to me.

You're a good man, and once again I apologize for the generalization.

George

F1nut

George,

It's time to build a wall, maybe a nice stone one. Dig down at least 18 inches to keep that stuff outta your yard.

George Grand

F1,

The guy I buy my grass seed from is an old friend. We flew together for years. He IS, Mr. Grass. For as long as I have known him he has worked in agriculture. He was employed at Tuckahoe Turf Farms when we first met, and has since opened his own business called Turf and Farm. He is SO good, in the early 90's, when the U.S. and China had an agricultural exchange of sorts, he was one of the U.S. citizens that went to China.

When I first realized I was going to have a problem, I approached him about a possible remedy. His one word answer? "Move!" Unfortunatly, that is not an option at this point (too much hi-fi to re-locate). PLUS, I have been watching the same scenario unfolding across the street, albeit on two lawns that don't come close to mine in niceness. There are patches of zoysia that are 40 feet apart, with none in between. This leads me to believe that not all of the spreading takes place underground. It appears some of the spores or seeds can become wind or airborne, and take root wherever they land. It's insidious.


George Grand (of the Jersey Grand's)

F1nut

Hmmmm.......back to your first idea, torch it!

joe6pak

George

Thanks for the good words and apology. You are dealing with a pretty crappy situation with your neighbor and believe me I understand your frustration.

Your neighbors grass likes your property the best because you water and fertilize. I would guess he does not. If you can not try the method with the fertilizer that I mentioned on the other thread you will need to try something else.

F1nut sort of has the same idea that I have but I would approach this differently. Instead of a wall you might create a barrier along your property line with landscape type gravel. You could plant bushes in this area to make it look better than just a pile of gravel. The offending grass will be able to be spotted when it spreads to your land and be taken out with a weed killer like roundup. Yes I know this is money you don't want to spend, and will be a lot of effort when you could be using your time for something better. However, if you don't do something the zoysia will take over. I guess it is out of the question to get any help from your neighbor.

Of course you could go to court, but that is also a bunch of money shot to hell. I know this cause my closest neighbor sued me over our adjoining property line. I was here for 25 years. He has been here for 3. Anyway it cost me close to 2 Gs. Needless to say I do not care for this ****. He avoids me like the plague and for good reason.

joe

dorokusai

I would just make a habit of going over to your neighbors house each morning and taking a big steaming **** on his crappy lawn. The **** will sit nice and firm on top of his tightly packed Zoysia.

Read the paper, drink coffee...just tell him if he doesn't give a ****....you do.

When I worked in my dad's landscaping company, he always warned me about being careful when mowing Zoysia. Easily scalped, looks terrible when you do damage an area, and was a slow grower. I thought it was neat to walk on, felt like carpet, but hated mowing it due to it being very "dusty".

I agree with F1, it is time for a wall or divider. 6" Fieldstone bottom, with internal posting for a board on board fence....it will look fantastic.

phoneisbusy

Well, no problems with zoysia on my lawn, I got a very shady lot so my problem fighting the moss and mushrooms.

When we first moved in a couple of years ago, the lawn was an utter mess. Needed a power rake to get rid of all the thatch that had accumulated and moss killer all around. Parts of the back yard gets lot of sun and parts of it is in shade.

Haven't had much time to look after the lawn with the baby arriving this year. Yes, moss and everything has started to creep back. Not looking forward to cleaning it up next year.

Might just decide to landscape/mulch over some areas. Maybe set down some paver stones for a patio area. Since this forum is a plethora of information, any landscaping/gardening junkies amongst the Polk-nation?

Joe, that a bummer about your neighbour. Fortunately, I seem to have good ones and they've no problems when I go and do stuff along the property lines. I talk to them before I go and do stuff but they've always been good about it.

regards

Dave

Jstas

Hey George, if you need to build a barrier or something, just let me know. I'll be glad to stop up and help you out on a Saturday or something. Also, if you want to go buying shrubberies, let me know that too, I have a friend who knows one of the largest growers in South Jersey personally. He's always willing to help me out and he's a good guy to boot too.

I don't think you are going to get much done so late in the season. You can still plant but we have passed the first frost already and the heavy duty ones are just around the corner. You plant anything now, it's not going to have time to establish a root system before the frost kills it off. You're better off waiting until late April, after the last snow and frost of the season. Usually right around the time the yellow flowered bushes that used to be in the middle of I-295 bloom. I can never remember thier name.

Like I said though, let me know. If you need to go pick stuff up, we can use my truck and if I need to, I can borrow my dad's truck which is much larger than mine.

As far as what to do about the grass, everybody is on the right track. But if you want to go covert without any showing of your warfare, I'd dig a 10-15 inch trench right along the property line and bury weed barrier vertically along the trench. Fill it back in and then plant some low coverage bushes right along the line. Fill in around the bushes with mulch or gravel. Along the edge of the line of bushes that faces the offending party's property, put in some of the rubber garden edging. If he asks about it, just tell him the property looked naked there and you wanted to spruce it up. It'll look nice and when the bushes fill in, you'll have a nice, low hedge. It'll help hide the weed barrier sticking out of the lawn.

One thing about gravel vs. mulch. Gravel doesn't wash away or rot but can look gaudy if not done right. You'll have to put a weed barrier down for gravel. It is not always necessary with mulch though. The thing about mulch is drainage. If it stays wet, it rots quicker and can float off. I found a better solution to a weed barrier under mulch is an inch or two of coarse play sand and then mulch on top. The sand allows drainage and doesn't hold water and most weeds won't grow in it. If they do, they will not have enough of a root system when they pop up to hold on to the sand. Makes shooting them with something like Round Up or just plucking them out a cinch. You'll just want to sink some eging in to make sure the sand doesn't wash out. Seems like alot and expensive but it's not all that bad and I can pretty much promise you that your zoysia grass woes will be over.

Either that or get a dog and train him to piss and crap on your neighbor's lawn. If the dog urine doesn't kill the grass, the grubs and maggots that are attracted to the dog poo will kill the root system. No roots, no water, no grass.

dorokusai

Excellent information from Jstas. The vertical permat-tex weed barrier is a key idea. Nothing like getting some volunteer help, from a Polkie.