Zoysia pacificaKorean Velvet Grass

Zoysia pacifica is the finest-leaved of the zoysias, forming a dense, soft, slowly mounding turf of very narrow bright green blades that closes tight enough to exclude almost all weeds. Left unmown it develops a gently undulating surface that is often used deliberately.

It is slow to establish and then very hard to displace, and it takes heat, salt and low irrigation better than any conventional lawn grass, which is why it appears so often on Gulf and coastal projects.

Specifications

• Height0.05 to 0.1 metres, mounding to 0.15 metres if left unmown
• WidthSpreading indefinitely by stolons to form a continuous turf
• Native toSouth East Asia and the Pacific Islands
• FoliageVery fine, soft, needle-like bright green blades in a dense turf; evergreen in warm climates
• Growth rateSlow

Conditions

• SoilPrefers well-drained soils; tolerates sandy, poor and saline ground
• LightFull sun to light shade
• WaterLow to moderate; drought-tolerant once established and recovers from dormancy
• ClimateThrives in tropical, subtropical and warm temperate regions and tolerates extreme summer heat

Additional Features

• UsesLow-water lawns, verges and medians, park turf, coastal ground cover and slope stabilisation
• SpacingLay as turf or plant plugs 0.15 to 0.2 metres apart for coverage within a season
• Low MaintenanceNeeds less mowing, water and feeding than conventional lawn grasses; can be left unmown
• Pest ResistanceDense growth resists weed invasion and the species is largely free of serious pests
• Salt ToleranceTolerates saline soil and salt-laden wind, which suits it to coastal turf
• Drought ToleranceGoes dormant under sustained drought and recovers on rewatering
• Erosion ControlDense stolon mat binds sandy soil on slopes and verges

Korean Velvet Grass gives a fine, dense, low-water turf that will hold a coastal or desert site where conventional lawn grasses will not.