I know a lot of folks who lost their lawns last summer.
Thanks
Zoysia is awesome, Empire Zoysia. Bought a few trays of plugs a couple of years ago... it is thick and had now taken over my entire lawn, choking out all the weeds. I do no watering, and no ferilizing anymore and only have to cut it every other week.
They also sell a seed called Zenith Zoysia. Not as good as the Empire plugs. The scarce areas where the seed actually took are not nearly as thick and healthy and it isn’t spreading much either. It is also a lighter color green... Empire is a dark green.
Even though the reservoirs are full, we’re still on once a week watering restrictions :-(
Roto tilling to prepare for the sod is probably the best thing you can do prior to planting, and NO ONE does it.
Most sod installation is thrown on top of 1” of sand to level, but the hard ground isnt broken up. Water never soaks in properly.
Till in some organic matter such as mulch and you will always have a better lawn for doing so.
http://www.laymanstraining.com/lawn.html
More on Empire Zoysia... more related to Florida, but I live in Newport News, VA and it does well here to, though it goes dormant November - March (I overseed in the fall with cheap ryegrass)
This article was written for the I-35 folks. For the folks in East Texas and towards Dixie, centipede grass is a better choice for full sun. You have to keep in fertilized so that it doesn’t turn yellow. I like it because it hardly grows and I don’t have to mow it very often.
Try some Torpedo grass -
On a liberal’s front lawn.....