Zoysia tenuifolia – the favourite no mow grass!
A perennial favourite for no mowing enthusiasts, Zoysia tenuifolia is a low growing grass originating from South East Asia. Karl von Zois, an 18th century Austrian botanist, was commemorated by having the species named after him.
There are several Zoysias but the Zoysia tenuifolia has the finest textured leaf and is the only one considered to be no mow.
The variety is known under several names including Mascarene grass, Korean/Japanese velvet grass, Temple grass, No mow grass, Kourai grass and even Petting grass (as people like to touch it)!
Zoysia tenuifolia grows very slowly to about 10cm in height making it ideal for alternative lawns or on slopes.
It has very fine bladed, deep green leaves that have a high thatching characteristic forming lush, soft, gentle mounds.
- Full sun or part shade
- Grows to around 10cm in height so usually considered no mow
- Low maintenance
- Low to medium water use once established
- Once established has moderate drought and light frost tolerance
- Fertilise in Spring with a long acting fertiliser
- Forms soft, green mounds that provide an interesting “puffy” appearance
- Quite happy in hot humid areas
- Can be mown once a year for a more trimmed appearance but this is not the sort of lawn for a manicured garden as it is not suited to this sort of treatment as it takes a long time to recover
- Develops an extensive root system.
Depicting a Plant Tile of Zoysia tenuifolia
Zoysia tenuifolia makes a wonderful undulating soft ground cover or alternative lawn.
Use scissors to cut the Plant Tiles of Zoysia tenuifolia into strips to fill in between pavers.
Uses
- Provides a fantastic interesting architectural feature with its undulating appearance
- No mow lawn.
- Wonderful for difficult to mow slopes
- Use in rockeries as a striking groundcover
- Will grow in shadier areas where usual grasses struggle
- Great around the base of specimen trees in a courtyard
- Fantastic between pavers forming a low growing, green mat that softens the hardscape
- Perfect for green roofs or rooftop gardens
- The low gentle mounding effect suits Japanese style gardens.
- Low maintenance is great for commercial areas
- In pots or garden beds as an alternative living mulch.
Establishment
There are some reports of Zoysia tenuifolia not being good for traffic as it is so slow in growing. The issue is usually the poor quality of the media in which the plants are growing. When established in a good depth (100-200mm) of quality, friable media, the plants handle moderate traffic well, actually becoming lower and denser with pressure making it an ideal alternative lawn for average household use.
Due to the slow growth rate, growing Zoysia tenuifolia from pots or plugs can take a long time to achieve total coverage and you may have to undertake weeding between the plants.
This is where our Plant Tiles work wonderfully as we have done the hard work for you. No digging holes and waiting for pots to grow together. You can just place the Plant Tiles next to each other on your prepared media to achieve instant full coverage!
The Plant Tiles are only 22mm in depth so will require frequent small waterings until the roots penetrate the media on which they are placed. A fertiliser such as Seasol is useful to encourage root growth. Once established, water more deeply and less frequently.
