Zenith Zoysia Seed - NEW STOCK AVAILABLE

Zenith zoysia sown by seed,-  Darwin

At long last - new stock of zoysia seed is available.

Yes - it is March 2016 and for those in cooler regions with winter approaching here in Australia, it may or may not be too late for now.

I am a bit ambivalent about "to sow or not to sow" - mainly due to the BOM forecast for the next 2-3 months still strongly forecasting warmer than normal conditions.  That augers well for seed sowing, but it will cool eventually.

For areas say Sydney and north, or Perth - provided sowing is before the end of March, it is likely that you could establish an area satisfactorily.  For those areas in eg Melbourne, I am more wary.  Depends on exactly where you are and if the area does not get all that cool anyway.  If not in that group - might be best to wait for spring.

For areas north of Brisbane, or north of Perth, then there is still at least 2 months [ possibly longer]in which sowing /developing a new lawn is likely to be okay.  This includes Darwin, Townsville, Port Headland etc.  BUT - lawn growth will slow as cooler weather and shorter days develop in June and July.  That is inevitable, but growth will pick up sharply from August, with the benefit of the already sown area able to quickly develop as the warmer conditions occur.

We caution about sowing after April in Australia.  Technically it is warm enough in the north, but with short days, turf development is quite slow, and a lot of water is needed over the dry periods in the middle of the year.  Sometimes it is better to wait until August.

The new turf seed stock is very high quality, with germination near 90% when tested recently.  Unfortunately the only variety available is Zenith, with stock of Compadre still unavailable in the USA, and may not be available until much later in the year.

Unfortunately prices have had to increase due to high demand for Zenith in US markets as well as in Asia, and the change in exchange rate between the US$ and A$.  Please contact us for more details.

We still have information leaflets on sowing and maintenance available for interested clients.  

Care and attention to detail at sowing is important in ensuring a good outcome from using zoysia seed.  We also now have more information and advice on weed management issues for seed sown zoysia turf. Not all weed problems can be rectified, but many can be reduced, and often cured.  Still the best cure, is a clean seed bed before sowing!

Zoysia from seed offers a great turf with low maintenance and low nutrition demands.  It is the turf of choice still in many football [ soccer] stadiums in Asia including Japan, and increasingly on golf fairways and sport fields [eg Thailand, Singapore, Laos, China] around warmer parts of the world.  And it can be a great choice for your lawn too.

For more information or seed for your new lawn contact  - office@abovecapricorn.com.au  [ not set as a link to avoid spamming]

Compadre Zoysia Turf - Seed or Sod??

We have seed available of Compadre zoysia now [in fact, we keep stock of Compadre zoysia seed] and summertime is a great time to be considering sowing.

Zoysia seed needs soil temperatures above 20C for satisfactory germination and establishment.  In warm temperate areas think mid spring onwards.  In the Australian tropics sowing is possible year round, but drier conditions between about May and October mean a long time to irrigate to get good establishment and growth to build a dense lawn.

Compadre zoysia is a dense, laterally spreading japonica zoysia, with short leaf blades, well suited to warm temperate, tropical and sub tropical areas.  Generally, there are fewer disease and insect problems with zoysia in comparison to most other warm season grasses.

Email to:  office@abovecapricorn.com.au  for more information.

We have case studies, photos and information leaflets to get you started in developing your own area of what is probably Australia's best warm season lawn turf grass.  And of course, we can also sell you the seed and provide the know how, based on over 35 years professional agronomic experience with zoysia grasses in Australia and overseas, for you to get the job done.

Search on the LHS of the blog for more articles with information on zoysia.  It is a great lawn!

And remember.......it does thrive with less care and management, including less fertiliser and mowing, and it will grow in the shade, something few turf grasses are capable of doing.

20 week old Compadre turf, seed sown, near Darwin

Compadre zoysia turf sod is also available in a few locations around Australia, although availability does sometimes change.  Contact us for more information.

UPDATE - January 2015 - Seed of Compadre generally unavailable from early January 2015 as stocks in Australia have been sold.  More coming later in 2015.

We are able to supply Zenith zoysia seed only at present, a very similar - in fact near identical  - variety developed by the same company. We are using this variety ourselves for commercial work across N Australia in place of Compadre at present.  Characteristics of Zenith are similar to Compadre, with only minor differences most users would not notice, especially in warmer regions.