Just as you wouldn’t casually pick a home environment to put down your roots, you shouldn’t assume that any soil will do for your zoysia grass seed lawn to put down its roots—literally. Soil affects nutrient availability, drainage ability, and water-holding capacity, all of which will affect the growth and health of your lawn. But what if you don’t have the perfect soil for a zoysia grass seed lawn? Don’t worry. All soil is made up of the same three particles, just with different proportions. As long as you address shortcomings before you begin planting, you can improve your soil organically.
The three particles that make up your soil are clay, silt, and sand. The proportions range from a majority of clay particles (clay soil) to a majority of sandy particles (sandy soil). Loamy soil would be the equal balance of all three particles. Clay soil is very dense and has fewer and smaller air spaces between particles. Water has a difficult time permeating the soil and entering through these small spaces, but once it does enter the clay can retain the water very well. Sandy soil has larger air spaces that occur more frequently, making it looser and more permeable. Water will drain very quickly through sandy soil, so the soil will have a tendency to dry out more quickly. The perfectly balanced loamy soil has the good qualities of both clay and sandy soils: good permeability, drainage, and water retention.
Your zoysia grass seed lawn is a truly versatile species. It can grow in almost any type of soil from clay to sandy. The one thing you should be concerned about is the drainage of the soil. Lawns planted with zoysia grass seeds will not respond well to either soils that drain too quickly or soils that do not drain enough. Both sandy and clay soils can be amended to have better drainage before you start planting.
For any kind of amendment, you should be incorporating new organic material into the soil. If your clay soil’s drainage is poor, use amendments like peat or wood chips. They will help create more air spaces for the water to run through. If you are looking to improve the drainage of a sandy soil, incorporate amendments such as aged composts or manures. These will help increase the soil’s capacity to retain water, so it won’t drain as quickly. No matter what, don’t mix clay and sand together in the hopes that you will achieve the perfect drainage for your zoysia grass seed lawn. Clay and sand mixed together will become a concrete-like material, which doesn’t have any drainage at all!
If you plan to buy zoysia grass seeds from Nature’s Finest Seed, you will have the extra benefit of our Soil-Boost product. Coated on every individual seed, Soil-Boost is a mycorrhiza that will be able to absorb smaller nutrients that the zoysia grass normally wouldn’t be able to use. This will increase your lawn’s ability to grow in less nutrient-rich soil without any extra work on your part.