How to Compare Zoysia Sod Varieties

Compare Zoysia japonica, also known as Japanese or Korean grass, with other Zoysias as the cultivar with the maximum cold hardiness the species can offer and with the widest and coarsest blade texture. Keep in mind that japonica is also the only Zoysia species capable of reproducing itself by seed as well as vegetative rhizomes and runners and is therefore capable of self-sowing. Consider subcultivars of Zoysia japonica sod such as Meyer, Belair or El Toro for similar cold hardiness to the parent strain but with a slightly finer blade texture and a more resilient response to growing locations with partial shade conditions.

Contrast Zoysia matrella sod, also commonly known as Manila grass, with the japonica cultivars, as matrella grass blades are relatively narrow, pointed at the tip and somewhat wirelike in look and feel, versus wide and flat like the japonicas. Matrella likes to shear more closely than other cultivars and has medium cold hardiness and blade texture when compared with the japonicas.

Judge Zoysia tenuifolia, also known as Korean velvet grass or Mascarene grass, as having the finest blade texture and softest feel that the species offers. Zoysia tenuifolia is the most cold-sensitive of the Zoysia sods and will turn brown earlier and succumb to frost more readily than the other cultivars. Weigh the additional benefit that tenuifolia sod, when grown in warm and frost-free climes, can be used as a year-round green ground cover without requiring regular mowing.

Evaluate the benefits of Zoysia emerald sod, a hybrid cultivar of japonica and tenuifolia, against the closest comparable cultivar, Zoysia matrella. Emerald sod has a similar fine and relatively soft blade texture and is in middle of the species group for cold-hardiness.