[Rag Bagger]

A lot of our yards that have Zosia grass have dead areas. I have been told it is a fungus. It doesn't help to water. Anybody familiar with the problem and what to do about it?

[GMONEY]

It is called dollar spot and brown patch, it is a fungus. If that is what you have. We have the same grass. you can buy the stuff at Home Depot or Lowes to put in your spreader in feed it to the lawn. It will help it alot. Ours has come back looking better so far. Now we had a spot about the size of a watermelon that was not growing. I pulled out the dead looking grass put some good soil in there and put Scotts weed and feed down on the yard. The Zoysia will spread and cover it back up. Very tolerant grass.

http://www.bayeradvanced.com/guides/...FRMeDQodaVBgTA

this link might help: if you have Massey or Zoysia Green service let them know and make sure they treat it.

[Rag Bagger]

Originally Posted by re-tire

The fungus is in ALL Zoysia grass. The fungus is part of the ecosystem of Zoysia. The fungus takes over because of too much thatch, too much water, too much fertilizer [so your first instinct to water more and fertilize more makes it worse]. You need to hire someone to dethatch your lawn... there is a special piece of equipment to do this.

Not questioning your tought but the yard is only two years old. Is it possible that it would need dethatching for such a new lawn? I agree it does look a lot like a thatch problem but it's only in segregated places around the yard.

[F16 1UB]

Same crummy 2 y/o Zoysia grass at our home. Took me 1 yr to get it in shape. Yard is professionally fertilized & debugged. I MOW MY OWN YARD and never dethatch. Mower set at 3" level. And yes it appeared to be dead after the winter but came back beautiful. I water as directed for my area, once a week.

[MyKisa]

There is nothing wrong with the zoysia...it is over fertilization. Almost every commercial fertilization company is going way overboard with the food. The fungus has always followed yards that were over fed and had a few too many dry days.....seen it many times. Fertilization companies could save a lot of money on their "poison" by not over fertilizing.....and Villagers could save a lot of money on water. If you own zoysia, have a commercial outfit feeding it, you are paying too much for water, and running the risk of diaster. Zoysia requires so very little. thats why TV began using it.....but seems most do not know how to treat it.

[dadspet]

In our new house we had grass problems. First the villages kept telling us its getting cut too high. The lawn guy kept saying it had to be cut that high and wouldn't be responsible for it dying if he cut it closer. The Villages insisted that was the problem. The grass guy cut it closer and after a yr of going back and forth the grass in large areas still look bad. I was told to water it more then water it less. Same issues in large areas. The Villages finally came back and then sent it to out to some Fl college and concluded it was a fungus of some sort and put something on to fix that. That didn't work and they called in lawn experts to put something on again. It still didn't work. Finally they agreed to resod part of the grass and it helped but I still have areas that look pretty shoddy. I replanted some more sod and that didn't seem to really spread. I hired a lawn fertilizer service and they said too much water in the corners and I cut back those areas. That helped some but I can tell you Zoysia isn't all that its cracked up to be and don't ever expect it to look like a Eastern Lawn.

[GMONEY]

we had brown spots all over our lawn. We applied some fungus control over the yard that we got at Home Depot. We apply our own fertilizer and it get watered 2 times a week unless it rains. If the sensor does not turn the system off, I will turn it off due to rain. Yard looks good, looks like a carpet. I cut my own yard and mulch it. Every now and then I will bag it. We use to have Massey do our yard and that was the biggest mistakes I have made. Little TLC and it works out great

[itzfun]

All your posts are a great help. My neighbor got a fungus and needed two palettes of sod to the tune of $400 a palette. The next neighbor got a professional service for a year for $300. I am going to get the treatment at Home Depot and do it myself. It's not such a big patch yet, and the rest of my yard looks pretty good. I fertilize myslef, but pay someone to cut it. They do a nice job and recently cleaned out the area around all the sprinkler heads.

I too, water twice a week unless it rains. In the winter once a week or less. My lawn is four years old. When I had a professional fertilizing it didn't look any better than before treatment. I fertilize and it looks great.

Again, thanks for your help.

[billethkid]

Watering in the late part of the day allows the grass to remain wet through the night, hence a breeding ground for fungus.

It is also recommended to not water during the hotter parts of the day when the sun can actually heat the water to be harmful to the new blades of grass.

Early morning as in 4 AM plus or minus to your liking is recommended by knowledgeable suppliers and land scapers.

btk