Does Zoysia need pre-emergent application of crabgrass control (lawn, growing, front yard)

[ddyourself]

Hi, All,

I am pretty new to gardening as a new homeowner. We have Zoysia grass installed two years ago, was pretty good for the first summer, but last summer we did spot crabgrass here and there. Not too bad though, so we pulled them just by hand.

The front yard where there is always sunshine has less problem since the grass is really thick. But the shaded area at the side of the house does show small brown patches and less dense grass. So, there came the weeds, especially crabgrass in the summer and chickenweed in the winter.

As far as my understanding goes, it is the time most homeowners with Fescue started with pre-emergent crabgrass control. So, my question is, how about Zoysia grass? Some online articles say yes, some say no. Anybody has personal experience can share?

TIA

BTW: I am in NC.

[gunslinger256]

in the beginning you'll need it, but as the zoysia fills in, it will block most everything from growing. I would apply pre-emergent for 2 more years. As long as the lawn is healthy and the soil PH is good, the grass should out compete the weeds.

I've heard that zoysia needs a little more water than bermuda so make sure you water less frequently but deeply when you water. Someone should come along and give you the amounts you should be watering. just guessing 1" of water every 2 weeks should be enough.

put a can of tuna fish out there and when it's full you stop watering that area. it will take much longer than you think.

a few friends of mine will run their sprinkler on timer for 10 minutes 2 or 3 times a week and that will only bring the turf roots to the surface to kill the grass at the first sign of drought/water restrictions.

I've not watered my Bermuda lawn with anything except what falls down as rain and I suspect the grass is slowly dieing from excess heat and minimal rain 3 years in a row. surprisingly it comes back every spring.

I don't want to waste the water to keep my lawn alive just so I can mow it. I hope naturalizing the bermuda trains the roots to go deeper.

[Butterfly4u]

dd,
Apply the preemergent.
It is amazing how good it works, and how much less weeds you will have this entire summer.
It's worth it, I just applied mine this past weekend. It's spring here now in SC.
I only do it once a year, so it's not all that big a deal anyway.

[ddyourself]

Thank you for the advice! I will go ahead and spread it this weekend.