- 
: : ¢ Lf ¥ ral 
Perhaps the best summary explanation is in Paes a cp ee 
Zoysia lawnemaker who ‘said, "¥ou ‘can!t buy ‘a Zoysia Lawn, oe tea oe 
earn it." For the gem of beauty that is Zoysia is not eae 2 
planting it. The first year of its. growth ‘requires Peel ra eerste 
. if secdom from excessive il 3 
mist have water and light and freedo : Bs ae 
and other grasses; fertilizer is necessary, and freedom Seb aie | 
dirt or matted dead grass or piles of oe ails 4 beta ce ae eae 
yrown Gown upon the ground. It is not so,mu¢n,t ae | | 
pets as it is the frequency with thich they ;are applied. Sa 
that this first year of a Zoysia planting is;the-critical year. i 
for the established lawn is not necessarye 
i 
A Pei 
me RNs 
COST acy 
A Aue, oy gy “Sash s fr 
Zoysia is expensive, -when the first cost only is i eat ee 
the long run it is the most economical of beautiful lawnse Voleeette aan 
eae increase the demand for homes with Zoysia lawns as et ae 
becomes familiar with this grass. But now while there Sanat yee 
on the market, the cost to be considered is that of | Namco ea nee ue 
This cost is made up of two primary elements: cost of the sod aes é 
location of the new lawn (this grass is grown in very few Perea ae 
America, and the transportation costs are high), and cost oF ae rae By 
-that is, the labor and machines and materials for soil preparation 
Zoysia settings 
At present, Zoysia sod is sold at from three dollars and fifty cents 
a square yard in Auburn, Alabama, to five and a half or six dollars rae 
other cities of the South, and nine or ten dollars in some West Coas oca= 
tions e 
“At that rate solid sodcing is very seldom practiced, anc even the 
early practice of plugging in sod squares of two, eS dey or other 
number of inches in size has been given up generally in favor of the sprig 
planting, by which one yard of turf will cover about forty oie its ori- 
ginal area, For this method it is important that the ground be thoroughly 
prepared, preferably with a rotary tiller. The total cost of the Zoysia 
at, ee 
fairly Jargé scale in many -cities of the country. And/it compares favorably 
with ‘the cost‘of preparing a lawn in accordance with the directions of any 
reliable séed Houses . 
APPEARANCE WHILE MATURING 
"One of the tad features of Zoysia is that the appearance of the new 
lawn inthe making is not -wéry attractive. That is true, of course, of 
all new lawns’ except those ‘secured by solid sodding. But so slow is Zoysia 
that this’ initial period lasts: mel longer than with other grasses.’ It 
is possiblé under ideal’ conditions; (Careful preparation of Soil, expert 
planting, full sunlight;> daily: watering, frequent fertilizeing, total’ weed- 
be Rr 
ing) to get complete covérage: of the ground in six months (April to Septem= 
ber) from the time 6fSprig planting, but that is very unusual and not 
generally worth the effort. Under good conditions coverage can be expected 
in twelve ‘to ‘eighteen: monthss: Frequently two full years have been required, 
afd “in some cases “of unfavorable conditions three years were necessary. 
Total weeding isseldom practiced. At the present cost of labor it 
is quite out of the question. The chemical weed killers have a decided: 
Value here, but they are not foolproof. It seems probable that they will 
‘bécome“very: helpful as their uses and limitations are better known. The 
selective weed: killer sueh:as 2,l-D, phenyl mercuric acetate, potassium 
Cyanate, etce, do undoubtly kill :many weeds without killing much of ‘the © 
grass,‘but in excessive amounts ;or concentrations they may kill any grass, 
and they are nearly certain to retard its growth, If that retarding ef=: 
fect is less than the retarding.effect of the competing weeds, then remo- 
val of the weeds with the chemical spray is a justified economy. 
