- Dec 18, 2001
- 24,036
- 21
- 81
In front of my house are two mature oaks. They cover everything in leaves and acorns every fall. The dirt around here is very clayish. Moss grows easily around here due to the low PH.
When I first moved in I tried to fix up the yard by killing the grass, turning it a bit, and covering it in a thick layer of landscaping soil. I planted emerald Zoysia seed. It worked really well at first... then it went dormant in the winter, and the following year was drought and water restrictions. So it sucked most of the 2nd year. I added more seed once I could water again, and waited...
While I was gone on a trip for several months, the water pipe from my house to the meter busted... the zoysia died in a perpetual swamp. I overseeded it with annual ryegrass until I could try again.
WELL NOW IS THE TIME.
I decided to experiment... the top 1/3 of the yard has partial shade from the oaks. The slope keeps the bottom 1/3 of the yard a little moister. The middle 1/3 gets most of the acorns from the treeline, which changes the soil a bit. So I'm going to try a 50/50 mix... Zoysia + Centipede.
Zoysia is more drought and shade resistant. It has rhizomes that spread underground, and slow runners. The Centipede likes the higher acidity and is more cold tolerant. It just has runners.
I just laid down white dutch clover just as ground cover, and to get more nitrogen into the soil (the roots are nitro-fixing). When it gets warm enough I will till it all under, and bring in more landscaping soil. I will lay down a 50/50 mix of Centipede and Zoysia.
Lets see if they get along and stay mixed, or if one takes over the other.
For those that have grown either, any suggestions how best to make this succeed?
When I first moved in I tried to fix up the yard by killing the grass, turning it a bit, and covering it in a thick layer of landscaping soil. I planted emerald Zoysia seed. It worked really well at first... then it went dormant in the winter, and the following year was drought and water restrictions. So it sucked most of the 2nd year. I added more seed once I could water again, and waited...
While I was gone on a trip for several months, the water pipe from my house to the meter busted... the zoysia died in a perpetual swamp. I overseeded it with annual ryegrass until I could try again.
WELL NOW IS THE TIME.
I decided to experiment... the top 1/3 of the yard has partial shade from the oaks. The slope keeps the bottom 1/3 of the yard a little moister. The middle 1/3 gets most of the acorns from the treeline, which changes the soil a bit. So I'm going to try a 50/50 mix... Zoysia + Centipede.Zoysia is more drought and shade resistant. It has rhizomes that spread underground, and slow runners. The Centipede likes the higher acidity and is more cold tolerant. It just has runners.
I just laid down white dutch clover just as ground cover, and to get more nitrogen into the soil (the roots are nitro-fixing). When it gets warm enough I will till it all under, and bring in more landscaping soil. I will lay down a 50/50 mix of Centipede and Zoysia.
Lets see if they get along and stay mixed, or if one takes over the other.
For those that have grown either, any suggestions how best to make this succeed?
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