Lots of people ask us about the best Zoysia grass variety for Houston. We carry three varieties of Zoysia — Emerald Zoysia, Cavalier Zoysia and Palisades Zoysia. All are beautiful grasses and all will set your lawn apart from your neighbors. The best variety for you likely depends on the shade tolerance you need as Michael explains in this video. Call 281-431-7441 for specific answers to your questions and a quick quote for your project.
Summary of the Best Zoysia Grass Video
What is the best Zoysia grass for the Houston area? I would first have to ask some questions about where the grass is going to be placed.
Shade Is a Primary Factor
My first question is always going to be about shade. How much shade do you have in the area?
If the answer is six or seven hours plus of direct sunlight, then the answer is you can pick from any of the three. We carry Palisades Zoysia, which is the little bit coarser bladed Zoysia, and we carry Emerald and Cavalier Zoysia. Those are the two finer bladed Zoysias that we carry.
So you’ve got to find out how much sunlight you get. How you do that. Most people don’t know exactly how much sunlight they get. They might tell me they know they have some shade in the area, but they can’t tell me whether their grass get sun for four or five hours or six to seven hours.
Go outside on a sunny day and take a picture of the areas of your lawn that get shade every hour or two hours and then scroll back through those pictures at the end of the day. Those pictures will tell you how much sun that you get in that area.
You will be disappointed in any grass that you install if you buy a variety that needs more sunlight than you get. It just going to dwindle and eventually fade away over time. So you definitely want to check how much sunlight you get and keep that in mind when you decide on which grass variety is best for your lawn.
Palisades Is My Choice for Best Zoysia Grass with Enough Sunlight
If you get six or seven hours of direct sunlight in an area, I am always going to recommend the Palisades Zoysia. All three of the Zoysias are very aesthetically pleasing, but I think Palisades Zoysia has the best feel to it. It feels very plush and carpet-like,
The disadvantage of Palisades Zoysia is that it does need six or seven hours of direct sunlight. The two fine-bladed Zoysias, the Emerald and the Cavalier can survive on more like four or five hours of direct sunlight. They are also beautiful grasses.
All of the Zoysia varieties look different from the St. Augustine grass that’s in ninety percent of the lawns around Houston. If you don’t want the regular old St. Augustine in an area, all of the Zoysias certainly check that box. They’re very, very pretty and no one is going to mistake them for the St. Augustine grass varieties.
I am partial to the Palisades because of its ease of care. Anybody who has ever taken care of St. Augustine knows how to care for Palisades Zoysia. The mowing requirements, the fertilization requirements, the water requirement are all fairly similar. The fine bladed Zoysias have a few more intricacies to them and that should certainly be considered when you’re picking between the three of them.
But again, shade may dictate that your best choice is one of the fine bladed Zoysias. So if your lawn gets only four or five hours of direct sunlight on a sunny day, you should go with the fine-bladed Zoysias. If you get more like six or seven hours then I would encourage you to look hard at the Palisades Zoysia.
Get the Best Zoysia Grass at Houston Grass
Call 281-431-7441 for answers to your questions and a quote for your project. You can pick up your grass at our office in Arcola or we can deliver to your project site in the Houston area. We can also arrange for professional installation of your grass. Here are the current prices for all of our grass varieties.
All of our grass is grown on our family farm outside of Bay City, where we’ve been growing grass since 1981.