Improved Zoysia Cultivar Could Have Use in Transition Zone

The northern border of the turfgrass transition zone in the United States is roughly Interstate 70 from Maryland through eastern Kansas. The southern boundary is roughly the southern borders of North Carolina, Kentucky and Tennessee (Dunn and Diesburg, 2004). Whether or not a particular warm-season turfgrass species or cultivar will perform well in the transition zone is usually determined by its ability to persist through the coldest of winters. Bermudagrass [Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers.], buffalograss [Buchloe dactyloides (Nutt.) Engelm.] and zoysiagrass (Zoysia spp.) are used throughout the transition zone and heralded for their heat and drought tolerance. Buffalograss is the most tolerant to cold among the three species with LT50s (the temperature that is lethal to 50 percent of the population) ranging from -14.0 to -21.7 degrees Celsius (Qian et al., 2001), followed by zoysiagrass (-8.4 to -11.5 C) (Patton and Reicher, 2007), and bermudagrass (-7.0 to -11.0 C) (Anderson et al., 1988, 1993).

Quick Tip

Zoysiagrass is native to Asia and the South Pacific, along the eastern Pacific Rim to westward of the Indian Ocean (Engelke and Anderson, 2003). David Fairchild, son of George Fairchild, who was Kansas State University President from 1879 to 1897, introduced Z. japonica Steud. as Plant Introduction 9299 into the United States in 1902 (Fairchild, 1938). Among the 11 zoysiagrass species identified, three have been grown as turfgrasses in the United States since the 1930s (Halsey, 1956; Engelke and Anderson, 2003). Zoysia pacifica (Goudsw.) M. Hotta & Kuroi produces a very attractive turf with the finest leaf texture, but is only used in areas of Florida and Southern California, as it does not tolerate cold weather.

Grasses in the Z. matrella (L.) Merr. group form a thick and tough turf that is wear resistant but lack sufficient cold hardiness for use in the transition zone. Those grasses found in the Z. japonica group have the best cold hardiness among the three turf-type zoysia species, but most have a coarse leaf texture and inferior turf quality (Halsey, 1956).

Photo 1: Zoysiagrass progeny is developed at Texas A&M University-Dallas and evaluated in the field at Manhattan, Kan.

Meyer zoysiagrass (Z. japonica) is named after Frank N. Meyer who collected zoysia seed in Korea in 1905 (Grau and Radko, 1951). Since the release of Meyer in 1952, it has been the principal commercial cultivar used in the transition zone, primarily because of its excellent freezing tolerance. As good as Meyer is, it does have limitations, including a coarse leaf texture when compared to cultivars of Z. matrella. It also has slow establishment and recuperative rates (Fry and Dernoeden, 1987), relatively shallow rooting depth and below-average drought avoidance capability (Marcum et al., 1995), and susceptibility to some pests, including the disease large patch (Rhizoctonia solani Kühn) (Green et al., 1993).

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