Q: I need to patch an area of six square feet in my ‘Emerald’ zoysiagrass lawn. The nurseries no longer carry ‘Emerald’ but have ‘Zeon’ instead. Would it be OK to use ‘Zeon’ as a patch?

A: There is a true ‘Emerald’ zoysiagrass but the grass you presently have may not be it.

Turf expert Clint Waltz collected sixteen samples of “Emerald” zoysiagrass from sites in the Southeast and subjected them to genetic analysis. They had markedly different genes – and differed in their spring greenup date by as much as four weeks. Yet all were called “Emerald” zoysiagrass.

That said, ‘Zeon’ has fine blades, like ‘Emerald’, but it grows faster. Heaven knows if it would match the grass you have but there’s nothing wrong with experimenting.

You could also simply plug in pieces of your current grass and allow it to fill the spot over a couple of years.

Is ‘Emerald’ Really ‘Emerald’?