wrote in message
oups.com...
You'd be surprised how, without any facial expressions or tone of voice
to go by, a short, snappy response like your first one can appear very
smart-alecky. You may not have meant it to be, but it comes off that
way and it's not nearly as informative as your second answer. I also
haven't been here for awhile, and that's one reason: these discussions
can devolve into sniping pretty quickly. Bunch of guys arguing about
who's got the biggest pistils.
Anyway, that's a good warning about Zoysia, and there's one mitigating
factor: the months that Zoysia's brown are the same months that we
aren't outside to enjoy it, anyway.


I go outside everyday and can also see outside from my windows. The lawn is
the largest green plant I have in the winter. I also tend to spend a lot of
time outside in the spring and fall doing gardening chores, the very time
that a zoysia lawn is in transition around here in zone 6. There will be
patches of green in the sea of brown. Furthermore, zoysia has its share of
diseases and pests. Also, if the lawn is established from plugs, you get a
checkerboard effect for a few years until the zoysia fill in. In the mean
time, the texture of the old and new turf is different, with very tough,
dense patches of zoysia between softer areas of the original lawn. I think
it looks really awful, but again that is a personal opinion and I'm sure
that there will be people who find it stunning. No doubt that in warmer
climates, zoysia is a contender but I think it is a questionable choice
where it goes dormant in the colder months.

I mowed a zoysia lawn for years when I lived with my parents and it can be
difficult to push a mover over a zoysia lawn. That lawn ended up taking a
tremendous amount of pesticides to keep it in reasonable shape. My mother
had it removed a few years ago and replaced with a fescue lawn. It has been
a much better choice in her zone 6 lawn near Pittsburgh.