of at least four inches with a shovel, a spading fork, or a rototiller, turning the soil and breaking up the clods of dirt. Then, thoroughly work the soil with a steel rake, removing all vegetation, rocks, debris or other foreign material as you go. A clean, well worked soil bed will facilitate later transplanting of plugs.
Application of Starter Fertilizer – The area to be plugged should be fertilized with 1 pound of 10-6-4 commercial fertilizer to each 100 square feet of nursery. If unable to obtain 10-6-4, you may substitute 5-10-5 at a rate of 2 pounds per 100 square feet. The fertilizer may be spread with a spreader or broadcast by hand, and should then be incorporated into the top two to four inches of soil. The bed should be leveled to prevent forming low spots where water will stand.

Planting Your Zoysia Plugs
A simple two-step method will install your plugs quickly and easily.

1. Using the Summit Hall plugging tool or similar cutting device (See Figure One), remove plugs or soil or sod at intervals of one foot, as shown in diagram. Alternate rows of plug holes for maximum coverage. (See Figure Two). Note: If ground is hard, soak it well, so that plugs may be easily cut. If the Nursery bed is freshly made, or if the soil is so light that a core of dirt cannot
be cut, simply set the plug in the proper location as in step 2 (below) and step on it with your foot.

2. Insert plugs of Meyer Z-52 zoysia in the hole (See Figure Three) pressing them firmly in place with the heel, until they are level with or just a little below the surrounding ground (See Figure Four). This is essential to establish the plug’s root system quickly, and it stimulates speedy growth. It may be desirable after planting your plugs to roll or tamp the entire nursery area, to insure that all plugs are set securely and level with the soil bed.

Watering Meyer Zoysia
The area should be watered immediately after planting and should be kept moist for about ten days to two weeks. Best results are obtained from a lengthy

daily watering using a lawn sprinkler. Be sure to heel the plugs in again after watering.
Important! Meyer zoysia is a proven drought-tolerant grass, and once the plugs have taken hold and begun to spread, water may be used sparingly. Periodic watering should be guided by local rainfall, soil, and temperature conditions. Waterings should always be
liberal, to reach a good depth of a number of inches, and should be applied slowly enough to prevent run-off. Rule of thumb – 1” of water per week from mid April thru September.

After You Plant
Fertilization coupled with ample water are the most important factors in gaining rapid coverage with Meyer zoysia. Commercial fertilizers should be applied accurately and uniformly by spreading with a fertilizer cart or broadcasting by hand. Any one of the following fertilizers may be used: 10-6-4, at a rate of 1 pound per 100 square feet of area, every two to four weeks. 5-10-5, at a rate of 2 pounds per 100 square feet of area, every two to four weeks.
A liquid fertilizer following the rates recommended by the manufacturer, every two to four weeks.
An organic nitrogen fertilizer or turf builder, following the rates recommended by the manufacturer, once a month.
Apply fertilizer during the warm season only; from May thru August. A liberal controlled watering after each feeding is essential! Don’t allow runoff and avoid feeding prior to thunderstorms.
REMEMBER – MEYER ZOYSIA IS A WARM SEASON GRASS AND THE PLUGS ARE FORCED GROWN TO COVERAGE DURING THE WARM SEASON ONLY.

When fertilizers are applied at above rates, they will not damage Meyer zoysia. The above programs on watering and fertilization may be greatly reduced when complete coverage is obtained.

Mowing Your Zoysia Plugs
Close mowing at a height of cut set at one inch will encourage your Meyer zoysia to spread, and also will reduce the competition from undesirable grasses and weeds. Low mowing of newly plugged areas is important, too, since the recommended fertilization program will stimulate weed growth between the plugs during the first summer. Elimination of Weeds – Weeds may be eliminated by hand or by chemical weed killers (herbicides) while your Meyer zoysia is spreading. Important! Weed killers advertised and sold by reliable firms can do a satisfactory job only if the manufacturers’ recommended rates will not damage
Meyer zoysia.

Planting Plugs in Shade
Meyer zoysia is only partially shade tolerant and will cover semi-shady areas, although spreading in shade will be slower. Plugs may be planted closer together in shady areas to compensate for slower spreading action. We recommend that your original planting of zoysia be done in the sunniest area, where growth will be most rapid, and where transplanting can be done earliest.

How to Transplant Meyer Zoysia
As your original planting of zoysia spreads to complete coverage, this area actually becomes your own superior turf grass nursery. Plugs may be transplanted from this nursery area into your lawn or other areas by the same general procedures. To refill
holes in your nursery after cutting zoysia plugs, simply replace with plugs of the old, unimproved sod, inserted grass down (or upside down). Your nursery plot will quickly be covered again by spreading action of the zoysia roots and stolons adjoining.

What About Winter Color?
Meyer Z-52 turns golden brown color only after several killing frosts in the shorter daylight hours in the fall, regaining its lovely green in the spring. Most people find this uniform winter color very pleasant, in contrast to the spotty, green-brown appearance of the average cool season lawn.

If winter color is desired, however, the lawn area may be sprayed with a color concentrate designed specifically for grasses. Such a color concentrate requires only one application in the fall after zoysia becomes dormant, and will withstand winter rain and snow until zoysia returns to its normal green color in the spring. It is not harmful to children and pets, will not harm the grass in any way, and will not rub off on clothes and shoes. Also, it is more economical and requires less labor and materials than the process of over-seeding with cool season grasses.

Heaving of Plugs
If after planting and initial watering the plugs seem to work up out of the ground, simply re-tamp or heel them firmly back into the ground.
Particular care should be taken when plugs are planted in the fall of the year as they will be subject to alternate freezing and thawing of subsequent winter weather. Again, simply heel them firmly back into the ground.

Do’s and Don’ts for Maximum Rapid Growth of Meyer Zoysia Plugs
• Do choose a sunny area where there is a convenient water supply. 

• Do prepare a well-worked soil bed that is clean and free of foreign material.
• Do heel plugs in well, at or a fraction below ground level so that they are securely planted, with no air pockets around the roots.
• Do keep the planted area moist for the first ten days to two weeks, using a fine spray preferably from a lawn sprinkler.
• Do confine watering after first two weeks to periodic, but generous sprinklings.
• Do help eliminate weeds and competing grasses around the plugs for fastest coverage by: hand cultivation; herbicides; close mowing at a height of cut of one inch.
• Do feed periodically with a high nitrogen fertilizer during warm season only.
• Don’t apply commercial fertilizer when grass is wet or ahead of a cloudburst that could cause runoff.
• Do water well after each feeding to put plant nutrients to work.
• Don’t continue this intensive program after the area has been covered. Obtain an Established Zoysia Maintenance Guide from Summit Hall or at www.summithall.com.

You may now sit back and enjoy the ease of maintenance of a Meyer zoysia lawn. Once full coverage is obtained, your lawn will require water only after an extended period of drought. It will need only infrequent mowing and a single annual fertilizing in the spring, using a slow release nitrogen plant food. You will have achieved the most luxurious, low maintenance, environmentally friendly lawn available.