Options for sod producers, golf courses, and lawns
K-State has been closely involved with Texas A&M University on release of zoysiagrass cultivars over many years. Sod producers in Kansas can consider these cultivars for grow-in and release to the industry.
Vegetative Zoysiagrass
Meyer Zoysia
Meyer (Z. japonica) is the cultivar that has been widely used in Kansas and was released in 1951 from the USDA, Beltsville, MD, and the USGA, Far Hills, NJ. It has been widely used over many areas since it was released in the 1950s. Breeding efforts have been continuing to develop cultivars that are well suited for the Midwest – more below.
Innovation Zoysia
K-State has worked closely with Texas A&M since 2004 in development and release of new zoysiagrass cultivars that have good cold tolerance.Innovation was released from Texas A&M and K-State in 2015, and is the first zoysiagrass for our region that has a fine texture, high quality, and cold tolerance equivalent to Meyer. It was a breeding release that involved a cross between Z. japonica and Z. matrella. Z. japonica has the cold tolerance and Z. matrella has fine leaf texture. This is a unique cultivar with a finer texture than Meyer but also has cold tolerance. It is presently provided by Sod Solutions to sod producers.
Innovation zoysiagrass in Olathe Kansas.
Chisholm Zoysia
Chisholm (Z. japonica) was released in 2012 from Texas A&M and K-State. It has a coarser leaf texture, but is deep-rooted, has good drought tolerance, and would perform well in southern Kansas. More details here
Chisholm zoysia at John C. Pair Horticultural Center near Wichita, KS.
DALZ 1701 Zoysia – Vegetative
In 2022, after 10 years of research evaluation across multiple states in the transition zone, a new zoysiagrass cultivar (experimental name DALZ 1701) was released by Texas A&M, K-State, and Purdue. A standard cultivar name for this will soon be available; it will likely be provided by sod producers in the next couple of years. Highlights of DALZ 1701: • Freezing tolerance of DALZ 1701 is similar to Meyer and Innovation • Exhibits superior heat tolerance than Meyer and has performed well in Dallas, TX • Drought tolerance is better than Meyer • Has dark green genetic color and better fall color retention than Meyer • Exhibits superior tolerance to large patch, take-all patch, mites and hunting billbugs than Meyer. More details here
DALZ 1701 (larger area above) and Meyer (small plot area below) after 30 days with only 1 inch of rainfall and no irrigation in Olathe, KS. Meyer is showing significant drought stress, but DALZ 1701 is not.
Seeded Zoysiagrass
Zenith Zoysia – Seeded
Zenith (Z. japonica) is a seeded cultivar that was released in 1993 and has performed well in Kansas and is available through purchase online. It has been well established on several golf courses in the state and has performed very well. More details here
LEARN MORE ABOUT ZOYSIA IN THIS RECENTLY UPDATED EXTENSION DOCUMENT: Zoysiagrass in Kansas
