My Zoysia Is Not Green Until Late Spring

green-up spring

Q: My zoysia lawn never greens up until late spring. In spite of professional fertilizing and liming, it is beautiful but never deep green. What can be done to have it green up earlier? 

A: Zoysia is always going to be the laggard in green-up when compared to other warm-season grasses. Although delayed green-up in some years might be blamed on poor management in early spring (scalping too early) or the previous year (fertilizer applied late in the season) it sounds like your grass is late every year. You didn’t name the variety of zoysia you have but slow green-up could also be caused by the genetics of the grass itself. Dr. Clint Waltz did DNA fingerprinting on sixteen samples of grass that were labeled ‘Emerald’ zoysia. He found great variation in the samples’ genetic heritage and a big variation in their date of green-up. Your zoysia simply “is what it is” and it is likely nothing you do will make it turn green faster.

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