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Zoysia Decline in MO

Lawn coach, I hope you can help me. We just bought our first home in St Louis, MO. When we looked at the house in end of April, we noticed a brown patch near the drive way but were assured that it just hadn't greened up for the year like the rest of the lawn. But when we moved in the end of June, the grass the whole length of the driveway looked dead and there were two big patches in the middle of the lawn that looked pretty bad too. After about a week or two in the house, I could go out and pull up the grass (brown...not green) and it would come right out like it was totally dead. We have dethatched the area as much as possible and are convinced the grass in those spots is totally dead. I had Scott's come look at it and was told it was simply zoysia decline...but why?? I can't believe them when they tell me grass just dies for no reason, especially when there are areas of the yard that are growing beautifully. They have treated with fertilizer twice this summer and with weed killer. They assured me it wasn't fungus, bugs, grubs, etc. Since then, my husband and I decided to put zoysia sod down, but are wary because we don't want to invest the money if the sod will die as well. I have dug, to the best of my ability, the root system of the zoysia near the drive way. I have never seen such an extensive root system! I was told that unless I get all the roots out, the new sod will not take. If I have to dig out all the roots of the dead spots on my lawn, it will take me forever! And now, am I too late in the season to do anything about all this mess? I really need some advice and can't seem to find anyone knowledgeable enough about zoysia. Can you help me? Kathy Allen St Louis, MO H Kathy, I’m so sorry to hear about and witness your predicament. This really looks rough. I have to be honest when I say that I rarely deal with issues like this on Zoysia personally as I live in the northeast. That said, my book knowledge is pretty good, so let me tell you exactly what I’m thinking. I don’t usually hear of “Zoysia Decline” except when referring to Zoysia that is going dormant as the temperatures cool. That’s NOT what you are dealing with here, and I don’t think that your lawn company is suggesting that it is. I do know of a viral disease of St. Augustine (another southern grass species) that is known as St. Augustine Decline. That one pretty much is unstoppable. That said, I have yet to hear of the disease transmitting to Zoysia. This one honestly looks like “Large Patch” to me. It’s a fungal disease that can be stopped if diagnosed and treated early enough. This is not something that any average lawn care technician can do, as it takes a much more educated eye. Unfortunately, most of those educated eyes are in the Golf Course management business handling far more challenging issues and making less money than many of their less skilled and less educated lawn care counterparts. Go figure. If you do have a golf course nearby, I would highly recommend calling the superintendent and asking if he or his assistant would be willing to come to your property for a consultation. You may need to spend $100.00 or so for their time, but it would be well worth the investment to have a real expert guiding you in the best course of action. And if they mimic what Scott’s told you, then you can at least feel good that you were getting the best advice all along, even if it wasn’t very hopeful. Let me know if this helps! Good luck Kathy. I feel for you on this one. C.J. Brownhttp://extension.missouri.edu/extensioninfonet/article.asp?id=1106shapeimage_2_link_0

Saturday, August 30, 2008

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