Zoysia plugs can take years to establish lawn

The Southern Nevada master gardeners are again offering free classes to the public. The Becoming a Desert Gardener series runs for four consecutive Wednesday evenings in January at the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension Lifelong Learning Center, 8050 S. Maryland Parkway. Classes are offered free of charge, but advance registration is required.

Have you wanted to become a master gardener but can only take classes in the evenings? You should do it now because after spring 2008 evening master gardener classes will not be offered until 2010. Classes will start in March.

Classes on how to prune stone fruit trees are offered every Saturday at the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Orchard in North Las Vegas from 9 until 11 a.m.

For details on any of the classes or programs, call the master gardener's help line at 257-5555.

Q: I am considering ordering Amazoy zoysia grass plugs and using them for my lawn. Do they do well in our climate? Is it better than Bermuda grass? I have two dogs and three kids so I need a tough turf. The reason I am interested is because when we go to California I see a lot of lawns that are very thick with zoysia and look great. Would I be better off getting seeds, plugs or not at all?

A: Amazoy turf grass plugs are plugs, or starts, of a certain type of zoysia grass. The word Amazoy has been copyrighted by a nursery on the East Coast. It is not a new type of zoysia grass but an older grass that has been around for decades.

Zoysia is a warm-season grass that likes the heat but becomes dormant during the winter months. It is only available as plugs or sod. Unlike Bermuda grass, zoysia cannot be overseeded with rye grass for winter color.

Zoysia is a very good lawn grass. It will grow here, but is slow to establish and does not repair itself rapidly after it is damaged by dogs or children. It is possible for it to take two to three years for a lawn to establish from plugs.

On the other hand, because it grows slowly, it does not need frequent mowing -- perhaps once every 10 days -- or frequent fertilizing. Among the dormant warm-season grasses, it probably has the best durability.

I do not believe you will be happy purchasing this type of zoysia. You really should try to find a source for El Toro zoysia grass, which is an improved zoysia and establishes faster. See if your nursery will order it in for you or if you can have plugs shipped directly from a sod farm.

It would be best to establish a zoysia lawn from sod rather than plugs, but it will be expensive. Plan on planting zoysia grass some time in May.

If you do end up buying these plugs, be prepared that they may not live up to your expectations.

Q: We moved to Las Vegas in February. It was obvious that the shrubs at our home had been trimmed back as they are now almost twice as big. My question is when do we trim these back again? When do cut back our bird of paradise plant? We also have a yucca-looking plant that has produced very long branches with red flowers and the branches have been cut back leaving stumps.

A: For plants with leaves, you can prune anytime after leaf drop and before new growth in the spring. For plants that are tender, such as your red bird of paradise or a bougainvillea, you should wait to prune until most of the lowest temperatures have passed, usually some time in late February or early March. Light pruning can be done anytime. All heavy pruning is done after leaf drop.

The yucca-looking plant is probably red yucca. You can prune the flower spikes to their bases so that none of those ugly stumps are visible. These plants are otherwise not pruned but divided in the fall or early spring.

Q: My desert spoon gave birth to a second plant. It was getting large so I tried to separate it from the original plant. In doing so, it came out without any roots. If I replant the second one without any roots, will it develop its own roots and do well?

Also, my hens and chicks plant was not doing well so I dug it up. I discovered the soil was full of white grubs and larvae. I took them all out, but I am wondering if there is something I can add to the soil to kill any others and to stop them from showing up again when I plant something else.

A: A desert spoon's leaves are long and narrow, and the base is spoon shaped, which is where the plant gets its name. The desert spoon is in the agave family. This plant is sometimes called a sotol because it was used to make an alcoholic beverage called sotol.

Oh boy, I am not sure what will happen to your spoon without roots. This is a bad time of year to try to get desert plants to root. My offhand guess would be that your success will be poor due to the time of year alone.

I would keep the soil moist but not wet and put mulch around the plant to keep the soil as warm as possible during the winter months. Applying mulch to the soil will help it retain heat and encourage rooting. Immobilize the plant so that any roots that might form won't be torn off if it moves. Protect the plant as best as you can from sun and wind to slow water loss.

Hens and chicks are succulents and from a scientific point of view are very interesting due to their desert-adapted method of making plant sugars.

I am guessing that you think these critters are damaging your hens and chicks and not just there by accident. I have never heard of this kind of damage to them.

I am guessing these are root weevil larvae, but it is possible they could be white grubs. It is hard to know without seeing them.

I would apply insecticide granules to the soil around the root area and water them in. You also might find a liquid which can be applied to ornamentals as a root drench. I do not believe there are very many organic pesticides that will work.

Bob Morris is an associate professor with the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension. Direct gardening questions to the master gardener hot line at 257-5555 or contact Morris by e-mail at extremehort@aol.com.