Fu, anyone, ?? about Empire Zoysia turf just laid

Hi there everyone,

We just had the landscaping done for our build. We put Sapphire Buffalo in the front (about 75sq m) and Empire Zoysia in the back (about 77 sq m). We did all of Fu's soil prep...my husband was cursing the whole time and sputtering, "who is this guy?" LOL. But I know it will be worth it. We saw the difference in the water holding ability of the soil before the turf went down.

The turf was laid by the landscape company on Thursday 10 March, so 3 days ago.

Sections of it look wonderful...like this:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v504/Japonica15/IMG_5480.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v504/Japonica15/IMG_5481.jpg

And other sections look like this:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v504/Japonica15/IMG_5483.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v504/Japonica15/IMG_5484.jpg

I said to my husband, "Well, that looks like two different varieties of grass...the Zoysia and something else that is dying off"...especially as the Zoysia blades are wider and still green and the other stuff is spindly, skinny and yellow. Hubby (who has no horticultural experience whatsoever either but is always keen to argue a point with me) swears that it's all Zoysia, but less developed sections.

Here's a couple of close ups, large format:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v504/Japonica15/IMG_5488.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v504/Japonica15/IMG_5489.jpg

Okay, so my questions...

From the photos I've posted, does it look like it is all Zoysia or is there some infiltration by another grass?

Is this normal?

Second, do I have grounds to call up the landscapers and ask them to replace the terrible bits...that's about 15-20% of the total area. The buffalo in the front does not have any of these issues and looks fine and more or less uniform (slight yellowing at the edges of some of the sections, but generally green and no large yellow patches).

We're watering 3x a day with the retic (we got our exemption) and hand watering (soaking it) once a day as well. We can hand water twice a day or more once we move into the house this week...

Its still ez its just stressed so the leaves roll up making it look thinner. It will come back fine in a few weeks. It would have been caused by the harvesting at the turf farm. If its not ok or not getting better in a few weeks call the turf guys, which i doubt you will need to do.

Ack, so my husband is right..say it isn't so...

Thanks for the input...anything I can do to help it get over the harvesting stress (besides the watering, Seasol, Powerfeed, molasses etc.)

We had EZ turf laid 9 days ago, did all of Fu's soil prep too. Had the same prob as you brown edges around the joins. I just some special lawn mix (topsoil) and put it on the brown patches. It looks really good now

I asked the same question not long ago. We had a few rolls that looked dry and like a couch. We laid it about 6 weeks ago and it is all green and lovely now so don't stress, it will come back

Oh, and we had a heat wave about 3 weeks after it was laid and stressed it big time and really dried it out, but it's survived all that.

Thanks everyone...sheesh...I hate it when my other half wins an argument...I don't think I'll show him this thread...ha ha.

We get EZ shipped in from NSW down to Melbourne and you should see what it looks like after that trip in summer Very light green/yellow and a bit crunchy.

Japonica26 just watch the edges where the turf is yellow it might shrink a bit and expose a gap between the rolls. Its an easy fix just chuck some topsoil from around the garden into the gap and it will fill in no probs.

Give it a dose of seasol to induce good root growth and keep the water up. They are right it will come good with a cooler change in the weather.

So, it will fill in then? This is what happened in a few areas...there's a noticeable gap.

Otherwise, besides the gaps, it's looking great. Just did another dose of Seasol today. It's green and lovely...

Yes it will grow together, adding some soil to the gap will prevent un-even dips in the lawn.

Thanks! Will do...

It is things like this that is why I suggest not using EZ unless the right soil prep is done. You can't rely on turf contractors to do it properly. they are just interested in cutting costs, smashing it down on crap soil and Dynamic Lifter Underneath. I encountered this twice today.

It's like when people say can I grow it in Victoria? Well do what the turf farm says and the answer is no, follow my soil prep to the letter and with no compromise on soils and you will wee it in.

No fertiliser. Molasses and seasol. That is all.

It will come back fine. Keep up the molasses and seasol through winter too.

Rake in bentonite clay, you can bet that wasn't used.

It is normal for the edges on rolls to die back on any turf after laying.

We did all your soil prep Fu before the landscapers laid the turf...the organic compost, zeolite, spongolite, kitty litter, Olsens Greenbio (couldn't find Bactivate), buckets of Sand Remedy...then Seasol, Powerfeed and Molasses...

Betonite clay? Wasn't that in the bags of kitty litter we already put in before the turf was put down? Should we add more?

The lawn is looking green and lovely...still a few gaps.

It now has a little crop of mushrooms, so I guess it's getting enough water...

Yeah they are pretty cool No harm to the lawn. Lawns can bring out the worst in many seemingly sane people. No need to start vacuuming the lawn They will come and go Enjoy them and what they are doing