Do you fertilize your Zoysia?

That's what happens when you plant a warm season grass in a climate where it is not well adapted. It gets taken over by weeds during extended dormancy. Get some herbicide.

Where in Illinois are you? Zoysia is a warm season grass, so I would expect it to have a long dormant season in most of Illinois. It will survive the winter, but I would think it would have a really short growing season except for the most southern part of the state.

Thanks for your answers and let me add that I live in the very southern part of Il. in Jackson Co. just 60 miles from the tip of So. ILl. This area is mark okay for Zoysia Grass. Will it choke out the clover when it takes off or should I spray a herbicide to kill the clover around the Zoysia . I don't want to kill the clover everywhere just around the Zoysia. Also I have one big patch of Zoysia I want to use to transplant to other areas of my yard. Should I take plugs from it or take sod strips . thanks Golfball 48

Are you sure that it is really Clover? A lot of the leaves of Oxalis look like clover, but most lawn clovers are low growing (an inch or so), but Oxalis is taller and WAY more aggressive. Its too early to tell by the flowers (clover is white/pink/purple flowering, Oxalis is yellow flowering).

If its clover, look for a nitrogen deficiency - clover is often symptomatic of that.

The reason I ask about the clover/oxalis identification is that it is unusual for someone to be surprised by a clover invasion (it takes a while), but Oxalis can really move in quickly.

If it is clover can be a sign of lack of nitrogen, and is the reason I asked do you fertlize and if so how often.

Well at first I had to chuckle about living in south Illinois but after looking at the map I see you are not that far north of the Texas Panhandle (where I have been working (not living) for a couple years). There are zoysias that should be fine there if you don't mind long dormant periods.

I am testing some zoysia at my home in San Antonio. The test is to see if it will push out bermuda. So far the zoysia is doing that but every now and then I pull a sprig of bermuda out of the zoysia. This is in a part of my unpaved driveway that is separated from the rest of the lawn. One thing I have learned is the zoysia I have needs to be mowed fairly low to keep it dense - hard to explain the details of that.

I used to tell people I was born in the south. I was born in a relatively southern part of Canada.

You could try some zoysia weed and feed or overseed with some zoysia grass seed.

Hope this helps,

Thanks,

Shane

Here is a link that might be useful: Zoysia Grass Seeds