Use of a temporary grass to take away the curse of bare ground or to 
keep out weeds to some extent or to prevent erpsion during the first year 
is frequently practiced. Ryegrass has been often used. When sown sparse= 
ly, less than a quarter of the usual seeding, it has given satisfactory re- 
Sults in many cases. But in general, the competition of Ryegrass with the 
Zoysia is not favored. Kentucky Bluegrass seems to be better, Both grasses 
germinate readily in autumn and die out in the heat of a southern summer, 
But Ryegrass seems to be more reluctant to let the Zoysia grow. In most 
areas Bermudagrass will come back during this first year, no matter how 
carefully it has been removed in the soil preparution for Zoysia, It grows 
with the Zoysia, covering the ground much more rapidly, If allowed to grow 
freely it may seem to dominate the Zoysia and sven to crowd it out, It 
should be kept mowed to about one#half inch in order to let the sunlight 
get at the Zoysia, Eventually Zoysia wiil become "pure", with no weeds or 
other grasses evident, But actually, Bermudagrass will remain for years, 
a sort of suppressed partner, living but not active, in a sort of contain 
ment. 
Even more interesting is the case of "nut grass" trying to compete 
with Zoysia. This weed, a sedge and not a true grass at all, is almost 
as ubiquitous and uncontrollable as Bermudagrass. It will live for year's 
in dormancy, waiting for release from the restraint imposed upon ity to 
spring up and grow vigorously. . But it fares badly in the battle with 
Zoysia. During the first year there may be a great deal of the nut grass 
showinge During the sccond year several shoots may come through the thin 
Zoysia sod. By the third year the nut grass is rather effectively squel- 
ched and seems to have disappeared completelye 
OTHER TEMPORARY GRASSES 
Because of this ability of Zoysia to win out over other grasses many 
attempts have been made to plant it in well established Bermudagrass lawns 
without removing the Bermudagrass, Sometimes this procedure is necessary, 
~ as on the steep bank of a terrace whose protective covering one Hardly 
dares to remove because of the danger of erosion, This. method is frequent» 
ly very successful, but very slow. Several years after the initial plante 
ing the grass may seem suddenly to change from Bermudagrass to Zoysiae 
A new type of Bermudagrass, known as African or Fine-leaved Bermuda- 
grass, has recently given.a good performance as a temporary filler, yield- 
ing to the Zoysia more readily than its better-known cousin, African Bere 
mudagrass is now being grown.for the purpose in Auburn. It costs about as 
much as the Zoysia,. , 
Zoysia is known as an excellent shade grass, -probably better than 
St. Augustinegrass and nearly as good as the temporary Ryegrasse But it 
grows very much better in full sunshine than in the shade, Some dense 
Shade will not permit the establishment of a Zoysia lawn, Under pine 
trees and other tall trees whose branches are trimmed back for some dis- 
tance above the ground, it grows easily and forms a thick carpet close 
around the tree trunks, But it will always grow faster and more luxuriante 
ly in full sunlight. Some of the apparent difficulty in shade, however, 
is avoided by supplying fertilizer and water at frequent“ intervals, The 
competition of tree roots removes these essentials rather quickly. Not 
total amount but continuous availability of the"nourishment is what counts. 
Just why there is so much variation in the speed of Zoysia growth is 
frequently pu,Zling. At times a clump of the grass well planted will seem 
almost dormant for several months. Then Suddenly it sends out a speare 
headed runner along the ground, usually on the surface, white«jointed at 
half-inch intervals, These are somewhat like Bermudagrass runners, whose 
spearheads are branched and joints are at much longer intervals, and grow- 
th is at much greater speed. After a few weeks the Zoysia runners take 
root and spread from every joint, forming a closely knit mat on the ground. 
Over several months the leveling process begins and Zoysia fills up the 
Spaces with green leaves, unbranched and easily distinguished from the 
slightly wider Bermidagrass blades. a 
Strangely enough, growth of Zoysia from small sprigs is much faster 
than from solid clumps. But the sprigs have greater difficulty in surviv- 
ing severe competition or adverse conditions. One of the Authors has had 
considerable success with the use of plugs of Zoysia sod, which were again 
_ removed by cutting from their runners after. the runners were well started, 
_' This makes; possible the use of starter plugs over and over agains 
“ 
he 
