Comments regarding Zoysia Farm Nurseries

I ordered over 100 plugs from Zoysia Nursery Farms towards the end of April, as well as fertilizer. Their webpage states that they ship to Indiana in April and I have still not received my order, it is now June. I have contacted this company twice and I still cannot get anything more than, "we cannot know what the weather brings, your order will be shipped when it is shipped". They have not called to offer a shipping date or to try and keep a customer with an apology. I called today and was told the "President" would explain the hold up in shipping to me, after 5 minutes on hold, a woman returned to the call and said "the order would be shipped when the rain stops". Not only does this company need to work on Customer Service but Apparently "The President" doesn't care about "The Customer" either!
I will never purchase from this company again!

"On Jun 19, 2017 10:49 AM, Zoysia Farm Nurseries responded with:

As stated in the previous negative comment, it has been a spring to remember. Not much changed between early May and early June. Please take a moment to read that response.
Things have improved generally since then. This has given us a chance to catch up, although there are still parts of the country that are getting large amounts of rain, including here in Maryland today. We have flash flood warnings. Shipping to Indiana was planned to start in April weather conditions permitting but here in Maryland and in Indiana.
As to customer service, we have added some people and they are on a steep learning curve. Occasionally they might make commitments that are hard to keep and it can be hard to find the right management person on short notice. For this reason we strive to make our customer service people decision makers that give accurate information and answer while the customer is on the phone - one time, one call. Some customers don’t like the answers and cancel their orders. While we don’t like that, we believe it is better than deceiving the customer with information we can’t guarantee will happen. Negative comments are not good but we think in the long run honesty with our customers is what is important.
"

Wow! I am so sorry that I did not do a "reviews" check before ordering from this company. It seems their majority of Negative reviews as compared to Positive reviews is well earned.

When you order, they indicate that your order will be shipped within 2 weeks of a valid order. The confirmation email states the same, and goes on further to say that your non-grass items will be shipped within 10 business days.

That all sounds reasonable, and I timed my order on that information.

I received no information correcting the email as it pertains to the current situation, and when I called to complain, I was told that some weather situation caused the delay.

To be fare, the confirming email does say that this might happen, but the company made no effort to inform me that the "standard" numbers of days for this time of the year could not be met due to "weather conditions".

A good company would not put out an email like the confirmation email if it contains unattainable promises of turnaround time. They should be sophisticated enough to change their turnaround times based on actual conditions.

This company is apparently not customer-oriented enough to care about breaking promises.

I was left a voicemail saying that order would take 2 more weeks (with no explanation as to why) when they returned my call requesting an update on the status.

That means that the order would not arrive at least FIVE weeks from the ordering date. If I had not called, it is obvious I would have heard nothing.

I cancelled my order because in two weeks it is going to start getting mighty hot where I live. I needed the plugs in the two week timeframe to ensure that it was not too hot when I planted them Three more weeks than promised is not acceptable.

Proceed at you own risk.

Ed Graham
Southern Shores NC

"On May 4, 2017 12:06 PM, Zoysia Farm Nurseries responded with:

This is a spring to remember and one that is teaching us valuable lessons for the future, but short term we are playing catch up. The rain has been relentless. It would be nice to sell a product that we just go to the shelf and put a label on the box and away it goes, but we don’t. We supply a field grown product that produces a much hardier more successful plant for our customers. The down side to that, is the unpredictability of getting our heavy equipment into the fields to harvest. For this reason we give our best estimates of when shipping will occur, but can't promise a delivery date. Giving ourselves a two week window usually is more than enough time to complete all orders in a timely manner. Not this year! The fairly constant alternating rain and sun has not allowed our fields to dry out sufficiently to allow harvesting to any consistent degree.
We are behind not only in shipping but in contacting thousands of customers about delays in their order. We have stretched our full time staff hours and hired and trained temps to help make and take calls and answer emails. We are shifting farm staff from our MD farm to our DE farm where while still wet, the fields are a little dryer in some harvestable areas. Getting trucks to bring the grass from that farm, for processing here in Maryland, are not easy to find on short notice. We have brought in additional warehouse staff to help process and ship orders. All these efforts are not enough and the next 10 day weather forecast is not looking like we will get any relief in the short term. We continue to ship every day and are beginning to catch up but we are not there yet.
Added to this situation in a year when we are stretched to our limits, is the poor weather in many areas where our customers live and having to change shipping plans late in the process so we are not sending product to areas that are experiencing everything from tornados to flash floods.
We have always said Mother Nature is a tough partner at times, but that is the nature of our business. We are sorry our customers sometimes are the innocent recipient of less than 5 star service. We do our best and will continue to learn from our experiences and the feedback we receive from our customers.
On the brighter side, we provide a great product and our grass can be planted throughout the growing season into late September and early October in many parts of the country. Additionally it can be kept before planting for several weeks, until planting conditions are more suitable. No one wants to plant on a super-hot day even if the Zoysia would love it.

Sincerely
Zoysia Farm Nurseries
"

Planted my grass late summer 2015. BROKE MY BACK trying to do so ... the advertised "plugs" are a POSITIVE NIGHTMARE to cut apart, and impossible to do in the advertised size.

The grass never took ... grew brown and died. Called Zoysia farms in the fall, they advised to wait it out and call back in the spring. Called back in the spring ... they advised to wait it out and call back in the summer. Called back last summer... they never answered my calls.

AVOID THIS COMPANY AT ALL COSTS .... not only do they sell defective products, they never bother to stand by them.

"On Nov 29, 2016 10:35 AM, Zoysia Farm Nurseries responded with:

Zoysia Farm Nurseries has been in business for over 60 years. We stand behind our guarantee 100%. We are open from 8 to 4 Monday to Friday year round. We offer a free replacement guarantee for any plugs that fail to grow. We simply ask that you phone us at 410-756-2311.
All grass goes dormant in the winter and we will suggest that the grass be given a chance to come out of dormancy in the spring to make sure it isn’t just still dormant before replacing an order. Zoysia is a warm season grass so it greens up later than most grasses, but will stay green in the summer and is not affected by summer heat. Once the situation is confirmed we are happy to promptly take the necessary action to get a customer their replacement plugs. A call will start the process in motion. I think this is a situation where we did not do a very good job of explaining the replacement process.
Even though this situation is over a year ago we would still honor the guarantee since they called in the spring. Unfortunately we do not have a “Blackiem” in the Bronx on our records to call or contact directly. Please call if you want replacements plugs.
"

I put in Zoysia plugs about a year and half ago. None survived. The large number of plugs they tout is nothing more than sections of sod stamped into many very tiny pieces. The grass looked dead when delivered. I broke my back putting in a large number of plugs, hoping that the roots survived.

Zoysia Farms made good by sending more sod. This time I put in the whole sod sections instead of the miniature plugs, planning on making more plugs later when the sod sections flourished.The sod did not survive. The grass had plenty of sun, got watered...I even bought their fertilizer and their ph meter.

In short, save your back and money. Zoysia is a fine grass but mail order mini plugs may not pan out as advertised.

"On Nov 2, 2016 12:02 PM, Zoysia Farm Nurseries responded with:

Over the years many 1000’s of customer have successfully planted Amazoy Zoysia grass on Long Island, so it is a bit of a mystery why this planting was unsuccessful not just once but twice.
When first contacted about the situation we replaced the full original order free of charge. We ask all customers to help us identify what might have gone wrong by completing a trouble-shooting planting survey before the replacements arrive. Based on the planting survey the customer supplied by phone we could see nothing out of the ordinary or done incorrectly. We had no additional suggestions other than to follow the planting instructions as closely as possible with the replacement plugs.
Why plants fail once can be a mystery, but to fail twice leads us to believe there is something we just are not seeing or understanding. That can be frustrating for all parties. We sincerely want our customers to be successful and advocates for our product. We have emailed the customer stating we would be happy to review the situation again to try and get to the cause of plants not growing a second time. Our customer service staff are available year round Monday to Friday from 8 AM to 4 PM Eastern Time.
"

No quality nursery would even consider shipping sod over the weekend in the heat of summer. That's just plain stupid. Instead, they would ship only on Mondays or Tuesdays, so your sod would arrive later that same week.

Take the advice of HALF THE PEOPLE here who SAY THIS NURSERY SUCKS. I suppose I deserve it since I didn't bother to look for reviews first. Oh well, live and learn.

"On Jul 8, 2016 12:35 PM, Zoysia Farm Nurseries responded with:

We want to make sure you are happy with your purchase! Please contact our customer service department at 410-756-2311(Monday - Friday 8 AM to 4 PM eastern) if your grass has arrived in less than viable condition. Our grass is very drought tolerant and can survive up to 10 days in transit to southern states, provided it is planted and the instructions are followed for watering.

We would be happy to take your call concerning any aspect of your order.

Please don't hold old comments against us we are under a new management team and approach."

Posted on June 16, 2014, updated June 16, 2014
We saw an ad concerning this grass and was very excited to order it. We have a beautiful winter lawn, but we have a number of brown spots in the spring and summer and thought this grass would remedy the problem. The first batch of grass received was partially dead and we quickly put the living plugs in the ground and watered and feed them. The plugs that appeared dead were placed in an area and watered and feed to see if they were dormant and needed a kick start .. No luck. After weeks of watching the ground for any sign of growth in the plugs we contacted Zoysia and they sent out a new batch that we planted the next day after delivery. We have watered and fertilized those plugs, placed markers on the lawn to watch for growth. To our dismay, No Growth. Nothing.. After all the hard work of planting close to 1000 plugs and no growth what so ever.

"On Jun 16, 2014 2:27 PM, Zoysia Farm Nurseries responded with:

I am pleased to see we have already sent replacement grass to this customer. It can take up to 45 days for the new green grass shoots to appear (Zoysia does everything slowly). The replacements were delivered less than 3 weeks ago so it maybe too early for the new grass to be showing. The spreading can only start once the plug is sending up new grass blades. Let’s hope, given time, they will work.

One area of concern, the plugs are being put in a place where other grass has failed. This usually means that there is some under lying issue that is making it difficult to grow grass. Solving that mystery might lead to more success. In looking at our” trouble shooting survey” which the customer provided information for, it appears the grass was planted near pine trees. Pine trees can be quite acidic and Zoysia prefers a more neutral pH level (between 6.0 - 7.0).
"

Received plugs, watered well, set in lawn. Watered diligently and daily longer than recommended time, didn't mow as instructed. The existing crab grass grew as it normally does, completely covering the area where the plugs were, making it impossible to see if they took in addition to not knowing what they would look like if they had grown. We had a harsh winter so I give the plugs extra time to make themselves "known" this spring. Not one took. When I contacted the company for a refund, I was told they only give you 2 months to call for a refund. I find that totally unreasonable.

"On Jun 16, 2014 2:08 PM, Zoysia Farm Nurseries responded with:

We are always sorry to learn that our grass did not grow for a customer. Our guarantee is to replace free any plugs that fail to grow. While we ask for notice within 60 days (we want to get the replacements to customers quickly) we however give customers up to one year to notify us of any that failed. This request appears to be beyond the one year time .

Zoysia is extremely drought tolerant and the most common cause of failure is over watering. It is difficult to judge from this post if that is the culprit but it does sound like a possibility.
"

I bought several 1000 plugs, so many in fact that I received 2 augers and 2 manual plug hole makers. The grass arrived via FedEx and I began the process of planting them as directed. This is very labor intensive and it took me at least 70 man hours to put in the plugs. Over the course of the next several weeks I watered and fertilized as directed. Several months later I have 1000's of dead plugs. The company offered me half the purchase price in return, which I took. I would not purchase plugs from this company. I do not think their product is good quality and the Zoysia grass they provide is very poor.

"On Jun 4, 2013 2:58 PM, Zoysia Farm Nurseries responded with:

We want every customer to be happy with their purchase.

To help facilitate this we try and take most of the risk out of purchasing a living plant, even if we can’t take the work. We understand Mother Nature can be a difficult partner, but by guaranteeing to replace any plug that fails to grow we help insure ultimate success. We do this even in instances when not all our directions are followed - kind of a not fault insurance policy.

We understand this is a new undertaking for most with a plant they are not familiar with. It can also be a bigger project than originally anticipated or planned for. I am certainly guilty of that in my own garden!

In this particular instance we were glad we could make an accommodation beyond replacing the plugs that the customer indicated didn’t grow. We felt we were being fair and honorable.

We are proud to be celebrating our 60th Anniversary this year with millions of success stories of establishing zoysia lawns all across the country. Zoysia is not a miracle grass that grows everywhere but it sure is a great grass in any soil with sunny dry conditions.

"

Posted on June 20, 2011, updated June 21, 2011
I live in Denver, CO and ordered these plugs in April 2011, and received in early May. I m very disappointed in the condition the plugs were received, the tool to use the plugs, the growth rate (or non growth rate) and response from the company. First of all, when I received the plugs, they were completely brown with very dry soil (did not look like the advertisement on the web page at all- which featured green grass plugs). The insert that came with the plugs explained that they were this way because they were dormant. The plugger that I ordered was rusty, and broke within an hour of use. So, I dug each hole by hand- quite a laborious task! Thirty days after watering by instruction, I have still not seen a single green blade of grass! Quite honestly, my yard looked better with a large bare spot, vs "dead-looking" plugs of grass- it is rather embarassing. I have talked with Zoysia, and maybe I just caught someone on a bad day, but they have been rather rude and non-supportive. The agent started off by telling me that I just needed to wait for 30 days. After telling her that I did, she changed her timeline to 45 days. They will not do anything to help me with this. I am ripping out these plugs to lay nice green sod. If you are going to purchase these plugs, I would strongly recommend that you read all of the negative reviews (wish that I had!), and if you still proceed, I would just be prepared to have a brown yard all summer. Defintiely a very poor option for Colorado!!

"On Jun 21, 2011 10:36 AM, Zoysia Farm Nurseries responded with:

We all have bad days, but that is not an acceptable excuse at Zoysia Farm Nurseries. We are here to help and support our customers or anyone who has questions about zoysia grass. We try to answer all the many thousands of calls we get each year in a cheerful, helpful and informative manner. Posts like this remind us we can always do better.

Dormant plugs might not look very healthy but the strength of the plant is in the roots and as long as they are planted they will be fine. It is impossible to tell which ones will or will not go dormant in transit. Mother Nature is in control of that, but if planted they will send up new green grass. That can take 30-45 days depending on local conditions. We ask every customer to give the plugs the full 45 days in the ground to send up the new grass. In this case, if the grass is still planted we will replace free any that don’t grow.

From this post it sounds like the plugs might have been a little over watered. After planting, the plugs should be lightly watered for 3 weeks (21 days) and only on days when it has not rained. Zoysia is a drought tolerant grass and too much water is a bad thing when the grass is getting established. Even if they were over watered we would replace any that do not grow.

The step-on-plugger should not have arrived with any rust and certainly should not have broken. Our policy is to rush a replacement as soon as notified. If the item is purchased separately we should have also offered the option of a refund of the purchase price.

I am sincerely sorry that this customers experience was less than acceptable. We have many happy customers in Colorado and we would like the opportunity to make it right for this one.
"

I purchased 900 plugs spring (may) of 2010. upon recvg the sod, the sod was dry and brittle. They were very difficult to handle and cut . I tried my best to cut into the size recommended squares. the plug hole tool that came with the package was helpful but useless. the plugs were not green when they arrived, i just thought that it was shipped like that so the box won't get moist during shipping. anyway, they did not grow throughout the summer and did not come back up this spring 2011. I just called the main office and was told that I just missed the 1 year deadline and they could't help me. I did not know how fast this grass grew starting spring. Customer rep told me i should have called after i installed them. I told her i was giving it a chance to adapt to the ground. my main purchase was because i have clay in my soil and i was told it would grow. i now have No grass and a huge mess of plug dirt areas. this grass plug is Horrible and customer service did nothing to satisfy my needs. I will strongly not recommend anyone to purchase from this place Zoysia Farms Nurseries-. If they stand behind what they sell, maybe they should show it! I will take my business elsewhere and those who were waiting for my results on this grass. SHAME ON YOU!!! I purchased on 5/4/10 and called 5/31/11, really! you couldn't help me

"On May 31, 2011 12:59 PM, Zoysia Farm Nurseries responded with:

We want and will make this right for this customer.

Our nationally advertised guarantee is: if any plugs fail to grow new green grass within 45 days we will replace them free.

Plugs will send out new green grass shoots in 15 to 45 days. This is depending on soil and weather conditions. We ask that customers contact us within 60 days to exercise the replacement guarantee.

If some are not going to grow, we want to get free replacements to the customer quickly. We regularly extend the guarantee period to 90, even 180 days and in a few extreme cases beyond that, at the discretion of our customer service team.

We do need to draw the line somewhere and have traditionally taken a year as the point beyond which we can’t go. There are bound to be some that will fall beyond that time who will be upset that we did not extend it just another 20, 30 or 40 days, but having already extended the guarantee an additional 300 days we think we should have the right to say that is too far.

However, we are here to help customers succeed.

If this customer would be kind enough to re-contact us we will replace the full order free, attempt to understand why his grass did not grow the first time and provide any suggestion we might have to make the planting more successful this time.
"

Posted on April 28, 2011, updated May 3, 2011
IN 2006 I GOT 10000 PLUGS FROM THIS CO. AND WHEN BY ALL THEY TOLD ME TO DO BY THE LETTER AND TO THIS DAY. THEY HAVE NOT GROWEN AT ALL OR FILL IN CALL THEM ASK FOR HELP AND THEY DID NOT DO ONE THING TO HELP I ASK THEM TO COME AND TAKE A LOOK AT THIS I LIVE ONLY 20 MILES AWAY.BUT WHAT THEY SAID WAS TO BAD YOU WAITED TO LONG BUT I CALL THEM A FEW TIME OVER THE YEARS AND THEY SAID I TAKES TIME ITS ALL RIGHT ..I WOULD TELL ANY ONE NOT TO BUY ANY THING FROM THEM THEY ARE A JOKE.......

"On Apr 29, 2011 2:14 PM, Zoysia Farm Nurseries responded with:

The customer contacted us on April 11 this year concerning their order for 1900 plugs shipped in July of 2006. We are sorry to learn of this situation and have attempted in numerous e-mails with the customer to understand the cause of why the plugs didn’t grow. To date, we have not been able to uncover a reason even though we are only 80 miles apart and enjoy similar climate.

We guarantee our plugs will take root and grow new green grass within 45 days and extend that guarantee for up to one year for free replacement if any fail to grow. We rely on the customer to contact us in a timely manner if they have any concerns. With so much time passing it is difficult to understand why they did not grow.
"

My experience is negative so far with this company. I received my shipment of zoysia grass yesterday (April 28, 2011) only to find that there was barely a root system on two of the slabs and instead of "cutting" the plugs apart, the slab just fell apart and I am unable to use any from that slab. The ones I could use were still shipped with barely a root system, but we will see how they grow. Unfortunately, since I could not use two of the "slabs" I could not plant my whole lawn, but I have severe doubt they will grow. When opening the boxes it almost seemed as though they were sitting out for more than a month due to the dryness and how brittle the grass was.

So far I am very disappointed, and hopefully the plugs that were planted take off and fill the whole lawn since I was unable to plug the whole thing. I recommend getting a landscape company and laying new sod down instead of plugging. Take if for what you will, you have been warned.

"On Apr 29, 2011 2:28 PM, Zoysia Farm Nurseries responded with:

We received an e-mail at 8:29 this morning from the Holloway’s alerting us to the situation and responded at 9:12 this morning indicating our willingness to replace any plugs they could not plant. We have apologized about the condition of this order and are awaiting information as to how many they would like us to replace.

Every plant should have roots and once planted they will grow. Plants and the dirt around the roots can dry out in shipment. That does not hurt the viability of the plant in the short term as long as they are planted they should be fine.

Zoysia plugs are not an instant solution like sod but they are an economical one compared to sod. In time the zoysia will spread and grow a beautiful lawn.

We hope we can turn this disappointment into a happy customer and save them some money too.
"

First batch of 1800 plugs was shipped on 03/18 and arrived the following Monday. I removed them from the boxes and they looked dead. I watered them daily until the weekend when I could plant them which took forever as there were no longer any markings when cutting the one inch squares. After planting the first batch, I felt good and ordered some more to cover another area.
The second obatch was shipped on 04/07 and arrived the following Tuesday also looking dead but had more green on the top. I followed the same process until the weekend. This time when planting the plugs, I used a Scotts fertilixer soil which I added to the holes.
This batch seemed to go green faster.
I've watered as suggested and initially thought it would turn out great. Unfortunately, it did not. We've had many days of extreme heat and even though I've been watering, the plugs have been dissappearing.
I contacted Zoysia Farms and received an email and then a survey in the mail. I completed the survey, sent it back, and then - NOTHING.
More than 50% of the plugs have not materialised and mainly from the first batch. Even if Zoysia Farms shipd another 1800 plugs, I'm not sure I want to go through the back breaking effort again of planting them.
I suppose the ones that are green and will grow and will eventually cover the whole are, probably six years from now so it make no sense to try another grass and spens more money. My neighbors and I will have to put up with the unsightly pathes and weeds for the next number of years.

"On Aug 5, 2010 10:53 AM, Zoysia Farm Nurseries responded with:

Amazoy zoysia is a drought tolerant grass. Zoysia does everything slowly and in the heat of summer there can be a great urge to water the grass to help it along, but this is potentially fatal to zoysia. Over watering is almost the worst thing that can be done to zoysia as it will damage the roots.

Newly planted plugs, only require watering for three weeks and that should only be a light misting for about 15 minutes a day. Anything more will discourage the plant’s roots from seeking moisture and heat protection deep in the soil. Over watering usually results in shallow rooting plants which are them potentially susceptible to either water or heat damage.

We do not recommend adding any granular fertilizer or fertilizer enhanced soil when planting zoysia plugs. We expressly say in our planting instructions “DO NOT us ordinary granular fertilizers. They can burn or cause damage” to your lawn and roots of new zoysia plantings. Our instructions say “use only water soluble fertilizers”.

Now the good news, -even though it sounds like the grass might have been getting too much water and a type of fertilizer expressly not recommended by us – we stand behind our guarantee to replace any plugs that do not grow no matter what the cause. We ask customers seeking replacement to fill out a short 7 question survey to help us identify what issues might have hindered the plugs growth and make suggestions. Once the survey is returned we schedule a replacement shipment along with any suggestions we might have and a refresher set of planting instructions. It’s as risk free and simple as that.
"

DO NOT DEAL WITH THIS COMPANY... READ THE NEGATIVE FEEDBACKS. This is my second try with the Zoysia product. The first 600 plugs resulted in about 20 total greening up. I blamed the failure on my installing them very later in the year with perhaps too little sunlight . I tried 200 more in spring time. The product looked dead when it arrived (straw as most people are describing it) . Of this 200, I had zero green up after 45 days of very careful watering and 6 hours of Arizona sunshine. Zoysia offer to send me some more dead sprouts, but I'm not going through that much work again. I cant believe the company would rather have another negative feed that send me $18.00.

"On Jul 28, 2010 8:44 AM, Zoysia Farm Nurseries responded with:

We attempt to resolve customer issues of this type as per our nationally advertised guarantee to replace any plug that fails to grow. We have honored this guarantee without question for over 50 years. We do this so the customer is guaranteed the lawn for which they paid.

We are selling a living product that needs care if it is to grow. To protect the customer against any risk the plants don’t grow, we offer our replacement guarantee. Our guarantee is there to protect the customer against any such eventuality no matter what the cause. If the customer believes they should get replacement plugs, that is good enough for us. We believe this is more than fair to all concerned.

The only way to protect against frivolous or fraudulent requests for refunds is a replacement guarantee.

"

The zoysia plugs I ordered from Zoysia Farms were in very poor condition and looked nothing like in their advertising. They were not scored AT ALL so I had to cut the pieces off myself which resulted in approximately 1/3 the amount. There was very little dirt on the sod so the roots were very dry; it was sometimes difficult to tell the grass from the roots!! They both looked like straw! The plugger became very dull half way through the planting to the point that it would not even cut into the dirt anymore. The edge used for stepping on bent. I contacted Z.F's to ask if I should kill the existing grass and weed area with Roundup. They advised "Yes." I did so and waited for the appropriate planting time. The problem was...By the time the zoysia turned even a partial, weak green, the area filled in completely again with unwanted grass! I couldn't even see the zoysia. The whole process is painstakingly grueling! It takes a LONG time to put all the plugs in the ground with no results! I will never do this again. It was a huge waste of time and money.

"On Jun 2, 2010 8:29 AM, Zoysia Farm Nurseries responded with:

Every posting contains interesting observations with opportunities to learn from the experience of others.

The comment about the weed and grass herbicide Round-Up is one I have not seen previously. Grass and lawn weeds can be killed using Round-up once they have started to grow. This product is absorbed through the leaves. It should only ever be used before planting the zoysia plugs - never after. The weeds that appeared later would have come from seeds in the soil that had not yet germinated into new plants at the time the Round-up was applied. The Round-up would not have killed the seeds. The seed could have been controlled by applying a pre-emergent product which attacks seeds before they can become the next generation of weeds.

The good news is the posting indicates that Amazoy zoysia has started to grow and once it starts it would be a very rare situation where it did not continue to grow and spread eventually choking out the weeds. The application of a pre-emergent product early next spring will prevent the seeds produced this year from growing again next year. For now any commonly available broad leaf herbicide will keep the weeds under control this summer and help the zoysia to spread. Always read the labels carefully to make sure the product is safe for use on zoysia lawns.

We harvest fresh grass from our farms daily for processing, packaging and shipping direct to our customers. They are packed and shipped the same day. During transit the grass will start to go dormant due to lack of light, water and nutrients. Additionally the soil can start to dry out and the scoring either rub off or disappear if the soil falls away. Fortunately the viability of the grass is in the roots and as long as the roots are planted the product will grow.

We recommend 1 inch plugs as that is the most cost effective way to start a zoysia lawn. The most economical is 1 inch plugs planted 1 foot apart. The size of plug and how far apart they are planted is entirely up to the individual customer. The bigger and closer they are planted the faster the fill in will be, but it will be more expensive. Establishing a new zoysia lawn is more effort than just throwing down more grass seed again every spring and fall. It can become a bit monotonous too, but having a partner to work with you will make the job more pleasant and go much more quickly.

Finally as to the step-on-plugger, it really helps if the soil is moist. It works best in loam or sandy type soils. Hard packed dirt or stony soil will eventually dull the plugger and if the soil is really hard it is possible to bend the step on plate. For clay type soils or stony soils we recommend our power auger. http://www1.zoysiafarms.com/category.jsp?id=10
"

i wish i read this site before i ordered from zoysia farms. when the reviews are 50/50 that should be enough to tell someone to not order from this place.

i got hooked on the guarantee. i placed my order and got the plugger. my order came when the grass came in season for them to cut and send it. i had watered my lawn a lot for a couple days before the plugs arrive. the plugger ended up breaking on the part you step on. i am an average weight person (cheap welds i guess) and i ended up having to buy another plugger elsewhere. the "plugs" did not come as plugs but as sheets of sod. they were brown and dry and looked like dried hay. because i wasnt expecting sod i then had to go buy something to cut the sod with (more money spent now). i tried cutting one inch plugs but all the dirt and roots would fall off so i cut bigger manageable pieces that the grass could handle. needless to say i didnt get the 150 plugs per sheet of sod.

i planted and watered them as directed but after a few weeks, no progress. they told me to keep waiting. after another couple weeks, still no progress, i pulled a few plugs and saw there is no root growth or attachment. i emailed them and they told me i had to wait the 45 days for the guarantee to kick in. so 45 days just came and went and i put in my "claim" for my new plugs becuase as i predicted weeks prior, these things were dead. now i have to wait for a form to be MAILED to me (not emailed). i have to fill it out and send back. then they will send new plugs. this will take another couple weeks (according to them) until i get my new plugs. by this time it will be summer and everyone knows nothing grows well in summer.

should have went with the seed if i wanted zoysia that much or should have stuck with my standard, re-seeding in the spring and fall and i wouldnt have a bunch of bare spots on my lawn now. this company stinks

"On May 27, 2010 10:04 AM, Zoysia Farm Nurseries responded with:

I am very sorry to learn that the step-on-plugger broke. We would have rushed a replacement if we had been contacted. Over the 50 years in business we have supplied literally millions of these pluggers with very few problems, but they are not unbreakable.

Our plugs are shipped in 10 inch by 15 inch sheets. Every advertisement we run, every piece of literature we produce and our website all show pictures http://www1.zoysiafarms.com/plantzoy.jsp of the sheets of grass and describe the plugs being supplied in sheets that must be cut into individual plugs using a sharp utility knife or garden shears. This information is placed right next to the guarantee in our ads and literature in the hope every reader will see this information. We want customers to be aware of what they are purchasing. The best surprise is no surprise.

Zoysia grass by its nature is slow growing (that is why it doesn’t need to be cut as often - I have not cut mine yet this year), but that can be frustrating for some new to zoysia that want instant growth or lawn. Patience is the key. Plant as per the instruction, mist daily for 21 days, give it 21 more days to establish root hold in the ground and to send up new green shoots.

If for any reason our plugs don’t grow they are replaced free without question. That is a guarantee no one else makes. Our survey is only to make sure if something is done wrong we catch it and share what should be done before the replacement plugs are delivered and planted. The survey is for the customer benefit, not ours. It only takes a few minutes and we can usually do this over the phone if the customer wants. Because of computer viruses, we and many customers do not like to receive or send attachments for obvious reasons. That is why we do the survey on the phone or via mail.

Fortunately because Amazoy zoysia loves the heat of summer it is a great time to plant plugs. I planted some last year in the full heat of July. I waited for the cool of early evening to plant and it worked out great. Amazoy zoysia is a warm season grass that is both heat and drought tolerant and one of only a few turf grasses that can be planted in the summer.

We want our customers to be successful and are here to help.
"

Posted on May 18, 2010, updated May 18, 2010
I ordered 2000 plugs and received sheets of sod with no scoring, in other words, they were not plugs. They were brown and I was told that they were dormant. This is consistent with zoysia so I went along. I have Meyer z52 which has been already sodded in my yard for 5 years. I have Empire sod which I have sodded in several areas and also made into plugs from Lowe's over 2-3 years. I have prepared .25 acre and seeded Zenith and Compadre with success, and I have plugged El Toro and seen the results with that over 4 years. It appears that part of the plugs may live, estimate 1/10. Also, the 2000 plugs were really more like 700 since they were not pre-cut or in separate containers, that was about as small as I could cut them and still have something to plant(yes they were pre moistened by me). Suggest buy sod sheet from local grower and cut into plugs rather than going this route if you don't want to buy plugs which are ?plugs? I spent 30-40% of my time cutting the plugs. My one positive is the auger drill bit that I got with the order which worked well, except it was designed for 1 and 1/2 inch plugs and not one inch plugs.

"On May 21, 2010 12:38 PM, Zoysia Farm Nurseries responded with:

Our plugs are shipped in sheets of grass measuring 10 inches by 15 inches, which when cut into 1 inch plugs will yield 150 plugs per sheet. Many people choose to make the plugs bigger which will produce fewer plugs from each sheet. In our opinion the cutting into plugs is not a difficult task with one big proviso, that a sharp set of garden shears is used. Anything less will make the task much slower, more difficult and just might produce quite a few blisters.

We ship in sheets of grass for two primary reasons. Firstly it helps the grass and soil retain moisture while in transit. The second is for ease of handling for us here at the farm and for the customer once is arrives at their home.

There are other benefits, one of which is that it allows the customer the option to cut and plant bigger plugs. Some customers like bigger plugs and plant them further apart. Some like to cut smaller plugs and plant them closer together. Amazoy zoysia being a spreading grass, the closer the plugs are planted the faster they fill into a beautiful lawn, but that might not be the most practical for some.

The rule of thumb is the smaller the plug and the further planted apart is the most economical but will take longer to fill in. The bigger the plug and closer together they are planted, will produce a shorter fill in time, but will be more expensive. Smaller plugs planted closer together or bigger plugs planted further apart produces something in between on cost and time. We always think it is best to give the customer the option to do what best suits them.

One last point, our auger does make a hole slightly bigger than 1” because we have all heard the saying about trying to fit a square plug into a round hole? No - the real reason is, even if the plug is cut a littel big it will still fit. "

I ordered 1600 "plugs" and received 11 pieces of brown sod. The sod I received was not scored and I can not imagine that anyone could get 150 plugs from one of those pieces of sod. I tried to cut it and got 24 (4x6) usable pieces from one. This grass was so dry and dead looking that I just put the entire order in a raised sprinkled flower bed and I will monitor it from there. I called the company and was told, "what I received was what I ordered, read the order form!" I will dispute this sale with my credit card company and refuse to pay for this garbage. I will "advertise " for these people all I can.

"On Apr 16, 2010 11:05 AM, Zoysia Farm Nurseries responded with:

Amazoy zoysia is really like no other grass. It is amazingly resilient. What appears to be “so dry and dead looking” is just Amazoy in its dormant state. It will bounce back and grow once properly planted and watered. Just give it a chance.

We are glad the Amazoy grass has been planted, because without doing that and lightly watering it for the next 21 days there is little or no chance for success. Our goal is to have a 100% success rate, but we need the customer’s help in achieving that.

Our grass is shipped in 10 by 15 inch pieces of sod as pictured in all our advertising and on our website. This will yield 150 one inch square plugs once the separation is completed. Eleven pieces of sod will yield 1650 plugs. Cutting them bigger or smaller does not affect the grass or its ability to spread and fill into a beautiful lawn.

Sometimes in shipping the earth can become dry and fall off. This can make the scoring difficult to see and in some extreme cases disappear. The viability of the plant is in the roots and as long as the roots are planted it will grow.

In good faith we harvest, prepare, ship, provide support and ultimately stand behind our product with a free replacement guarantee for any plug that doesn’t grow.

We are here to help in every way possible. What we can’t do is plant and take care of the grass once it arrives at each location. That has to remain the responsibility of the customer and the reward will be a beautiful lawn year after year with very little maintenance.
"

I saw the add for this amazing grass in an airplane magazine and thought this was the perfect solution to a problem I had. I ordered my plugs in early June, specifically I paid for 1000 plus I received many extras they gave me as the promotion. At the time I did not realize that they harvested only periodically so I was lucky that I did get the order sooner than later otherwise it could have been some wait. When they arrived UPS dropped them off at my residence and they probably stayed there for 5-6 hours roasting in the hot California weather. When I got home I saw and opened immediately, and read the instructions. Most of the boxes the grass was showing signs of distress and the color was brown as the instructions predicted. I wet them all down set up some lights and got to work with my son drilling the holes to plant them that night. We did this throughout the evening and then decided to put the rest in the next day which required taking time off from work. I thought I would have enough to put 2 two plugs per foot, but we came up short and had to spread the plugs out over a larger area. Once that was done and I was hopeful that everything would work out. The plugs were very coarse woodsy looking with a few green sprouts. I installed a new irrigation timer before the grass came and set it up exactly per the instructions to the minute for watering directed in the instructions. I even checked the flow rate to see how much water they were getting by putting soup cans around the yard. This initial cycle went on for a couple weeks and I noticed that the weeds seemed to be taking over instead of grass growing. I sent an email to the farm and they told me I could be watering too much, even though I gave them the schedule and our average temperatures had been in the high 80’s and low 90’s. They also recommended that I use a broad leaf weed killer on the weeds. I cut the water back by 25% and used the weed killer, exactly per the instructions. It never got better and the plugs always looked like they were ready to sprout but at the same time seemed dormant. Then our city made water rationing and I cut back again to mandated three times a week, this was less than 5 minutes per day. Now it has been months and the only thing alive is the marathon grass on the edges and the weeds. I am disappointed in the product, felt I did everything by the book but considering the result I had, it was a waste of money, time and water that I should not have wasted. I am going to invest in native plants, rock pebbles and a small piece of artificial grass so there is some green in our garden other than plants. The only positive experience was getting the little auger drill that I can use to plant bulbs, but without that the whole thing would have been a total waste of money. I hope others have better luck for me; I should have invested in a local solution rather than mail order, it was just my bad luck that prevailed. Good Luck to you, but at least research a local source and consider what they can offer first, before you purchase from mail order.

"On Sep 21, 2009 2:07 PM, Zoysia Farm Nurseries responded with:

We want to turn this negative review into a positive one. It certainly sounds like this writer did a number of things right and tried very hard to make the grass grow in his yard. Our free replacement guarantees protects customers in cases just like this.

It also appears that something is not quite right. It is difficult to understand what that might be, without direct conversation with the customer. Sometimes it is as simple as, the pH level in the soil is too extreme or the plugs were not planted firmly enough to eliminate air pockets around the roots. Generally it is quite easy to grow zoysia from plugs, making it difficult to guess what might be the issue here. We all know sometimes growing plants can be a challenge. We are here to help customers be successful in just such cases. When replacing grass that didn’t grow we discuss all the possible causes with the customer. This helps to insure a more successful planting. We also extend our 60-day free replacement guarantee to one full year from date of shipment as a convenience to our customers. If the writer could contact us directly we can initiate the free replacement order.

To be sure, the package sitting in the sun for a few hours should not have been a problem and the 80 - 90 degree days is ideal weather for Amazoy zoysia. It sounds like there was some concern about over watering in a previous communication to us, but from the description in this posting that does not really sound like an issue.

Every year we ship thousands of orders to California and customers throughout the state tell us they have great success establishing Amazoy lawns. I’m sure we can solve this mystery and have a beautiful lawn for this customer in the years ahead.

I ordered 400 plugs on 3/29 to get the free step on plugger. The order was shipped on 4/10 - the plugs arrived soon after that completely dry and brown and flaking apart, as noted by numerous other posters. Although the company is headquartered in MD, my UPS tracking receipt indicated that the package originated from Syracuse, NY. I went through the process of cutting all the plugs apart, installing them with their plugger (the hole cutter is too shallow and flimsy IMHO) that weekend. I understand the limitations of trying to grow this stuff in the NE, but this is one of the rainiest summers ever (rained 21/30 days in June) and I watered the days it didn't rain - and still I would guess 1/3 of the plugs died and the other 2/3 look brown with very little green growth. Perhaps that just reflects their normal slow growth, but where exactly are the ZFN farms? If they just grew the plugs in warm weather they would arrive green! I would not order again, I'll assess the status again this fall and perhaps reseed some areas.

"On Aug 6, 2009 4:28 PM, Zoysia Farm Nurseries responded with:

The crux of the issue here is quite clear; the planting sounds like it got too much water. The good news is we stand behind our product no matter what Mother Nature throws at you. We will replace any plug that fails to grow for up to one year after planting. Simply contact us directly and we will be happy to initiate replacements.

It has been an unusually wet May, June and July in the northeast. Amazoy zoysia is a drought tolerant grass and does not like a lot of water. This is particularly true when first planted. After planting, Amazoy only requires a light (15 minutes) watering once a day. If it has rained it is not necessary to water that day and depending on how hard or long it might have rained, it may not be necessary to water for several days.

As to where our farm is located, we are in Maryland and have been since 1953. To speed the shipping process we initially ship direct from our farm to UPS regional hubs (like Syracuse) from which more regional/local deliveries are made. It may look like the shipment originated somewhere other than Maryland, but I assure you we harvest and pack ever order at our farm.
"

I wish I could have found this website prior to purchasing the so-called plugs from ZFN. It would have saved me lots of time and effort. I purchase the garden shears that were recommended and they became dull almost immediately while cutting through the sandy soil. The auger worked well that came with the product, and I found it best to make a mud pie in the hole prior to planting the plug. I am into my second growing season and I have great news. My centipede is growing great since I planted the Zoysia. I purchased the Zoysia to fill in the bare spots in my back yard to see how it would do (900 plugs worth). I watered as recommended and used the Nutri 20 plant food. Well low and behold, the centipede grass just loved that Nutri 20. The bare spots that I thought would be filled with Zoysia grass is now flourishing with centipede. My advice is to save your money, avoid a backache, and purchase the Nutri 20. Oh and by the way,the Zoysia plugs, still look the same size they did nearly two years ago. I will be interested to see if they "choke out" the centipede, if they ever start to fill in the area they were planted in.

"On Jun 24, 2009 2:01 PM, Zoysia Farm Nurseries responded with:

Zoysia grass and centipede share some characteristics and to some look very similar. The major differences are Zoysia is much more drought tolerant with deeper roots and more forgiving of various soil types for planting.

“The bare spots that I thought would be filled with Zoysia grass is now flourishing with centipede” I read this as the bare spots are filled with something which is good although it appears the centipede grass is getting the credit thanks to our Nutri-20. Later in the posting the writer seems to indicate the spots are not filled in and the Zoysia has not started to spread. That would not be good, although if it has started to send up new green shoots, it is established and will spread. Both centipede and Zoysia are spreading grasses and I think the bare spots are filling in so in the end I believe this customer will have a beautiful lawn, no matter what the grass type.

As to the comment about our shears, they can become dull with extensive use, although this does not sound like the case here. I am at a loss to explain why this particular pair went dull. We guarantee all the products we sell with free replacement if they are defective. As an alternative, sharpeners are available that will restore the cutting edge quickly.


"

I am not pleased one bit with the Zoysia project I began. I measured and ordered enough plugs to double the amount per sq ft. About 300 bucks worth. They arrived and I began the project. Right away I began to notice that the plugs were not scored too well. I tried several different cutting methods from a saw blade to a box cutter. The issue was the using a sharp object close to fingers and hands while attemping to cut out a 1x1 plug is nearly imposible. I did this for a few sheets making the plugs larger for a safety issue. I got about 100 to 200 cut and began making the holes. Man what a pain in the neck. I placed the cut plugs into the holes as instructed and about an hour or so later i finished. I realized that nowhere was it mentioned the ammount of time and effort was required to complete an entire lawn. I realized that i would take me serveral days to complete the project and with me have to physically cut every single plug i decided that it was going to save my self a whole bunch of time and cut my losses. I took the rest of the remaining Zosia and placed them into Home Depot lawn bags. A complete waste of my time and money but a mistake i will not do again! If anyone asks for my opinion about Zoysia I will tell them to do their a lawn the old fashioned way. GRASS SEED!!

In the end i ended up going out and buying tall fescue grass seed and renting an overseeder and had the lawn completed in about 2 hours and for about 100 bucks.

"On May 20, 2009 11:27 AM, Zoysia Farm Nurseries responded with:

Many readers will relate to this posting, as it seems all lawn and garden projects involve more work and time than originally anticipated. Mine certainly do!

At Zoysia Farms we offer tested tools to help make the installation of a zoysia lawn as efficient as possible. We sell and recommend sharp shears as the best way to finish the cutting of individual zoysia plugs. We do not sell saws or knives on our website or at our farm for a reason; they just don’t do a good job and make the cutting of plugs hard work. Stick with good garden shears and keep them sharp.

We offer tools to help make the plug holes quickly (free with some packages). The step-on-plugger is ideal for smaller projects and loam or sandy soils. The power auger is much better for clay and soils with stones and faster for bigger projects. Both tools are efficient and excellent at making holes just the right size for the plugs.

Is putting in a new zoysia lawn more effort than spreading some seed? Yes it is, but in the long run you will have a zoysia lawn that grass seed will never grow and it will need less water, fertilizer, weed killers, and with its slow growth, less mowing. A great result for your initial time and effort.
"

hi ordered the plugs (so called plugs) about a week and a half ago they looked dead and dried out followed instructions on sheet broke my back for two days and numerous blisters and bandaids from cutting these so called plugs i ordered enough to do do my entire lawn 3 plugs per foot approx 5500 used the power auger and inserted plugs in holes watered and liquid fertalized and all i see is muddy holes thousands of them with dead looking weeds inside when i phoned company and explained they said i drilled down to far the plug is not supposed to go in the hole just sit below soil line but that is impossible when you use the power auger so they said the plugs will probably die so i am left with thousands of muddy holes and a company that sugar coats thier product run dont walk away from the idea of putting this grass down i am in the process of filing a dispute with my credit card today this was a waste of time and money

"On Apr 30, 2009 10:53 AM, Zoysia Farm Nurseries responded with:

We have many customers on Staten Island and without a name and street address we could not find this customer record. It is therefore not possible to talk to the specifics of this order. In general, it takes 45 days for zoysia to take roothold and it sounds like only a few days have passed since planting. Patience is required to evaluate if the zoysia has started to grow.

Zoysia is very tenacious! It also sounds like our planting instructions were not followed and the plugs may have been planted deeper than recommended. That might cause the plugs to be slower to establish themselves or even fail, but that is not certain. Even though initially, on the surface, zoysia does not appear to be growing, it is putting all its energy into establishing roots in its new home. We stress that it really is necessary to wait the 45 days to properly evaluate and judge if the grass is growing.

The good news is we stand behind our product, even when the planting instructions are not followed completely. We only ask that customers wait the full 45 days after planting to see if the zoysia has started to grow and turn green. If per chance it has not, we will replace free any plugs that are not growing.

There are a couple of additional points worth noting from this posting. The use of gloves is always advised when gardening and using shears. Blisters can form quite quickly. When cutting the plugs, a sharp set of shears will greatly assist the process. Keeping them sharp will help also.

Zoysia Farm Nurseries

Selling "plugs" that the customer has to cut from sod is stretching the idea of a "plug," to say the least. What I got was 3 boxes of dried out sandy soil sod, supposedly representing 1000 plugs. By the time I cut the "1 inch plugs," all I had was bare rooted sprigs. When I was a kid, my Dad sold Zoysia plugs, and I plugged and packed thousands of plugs. I mean real PLUGS, about 2 inches in diameter, with real DIRT attached to the roots, ready to plant! For what they charge, they should be selling real ready to plant PLUGS, not little chunks of "sod" that the customer has to cut, and then find that all that remains is bare sprigs to plant. Its ridiculous. As far as I am concerned, all their explanations in response to other comments is drivel. They should step up to the plate and change the way they do business. They need to provide top quality ready to plant plugs grown in real dirt in exchange for their top prices. I don't want to hear from them about what they want to do to make it right. They can't. That is the way they choose to do business and this is my comment on it.

"On Apr 6, 2009 2:57 PM, Zoysia Farm Nurseries responded with:

Our method of delivering zoysia plugs has stood the test of time and is the best way to insure a beautiful and successful zoysia lawn. It is also why we can guarantee that every plug will grow or we will replace it free.

Out of date methods of supplying individual plugs, puts field harvested grass plants under additional stress resulting in very low success rates. Customers are never happy with that! We have not used this method for several decades.

We are only aware of field grown grass being harvested and sold in sheets. This is the preferred method in the turf grass industry and the one we use.

Helping customers make the right decisions concerning their grass needs is part of our responsibility. That is why every print advertisement we run, explains that our grass is shipped in sheets of sod, that the customer must finish separating into plugs. Our website says the same thing, as well as having pictures of the grass sheets and the grass being cut into plugs. This year we have added a video showing the customer the total process from receiving their grass to successful planting. This video includes showing the grass being cut into one-inch plugs.

We are however, sorry this customer did not see or read the steps involved in planting a zoysia lawn before ordering. We want our customers to be successful and believe the best way to do this is by giving them as much information as possible.
"

I ordered my Zoysia Lawn plugs back in February. They shipped and I received them a few days ago March 29 , 2009 . I too was supposed to get 600 plugs plus a plunger (which is a piece of junk).
I opened the box and found 4 slabs of dead (or what they call dormant) grass. It took two of us, two days to install all the plugs. I was only able to get 42 plugs per sheet. I had to dig the holes by hand while my friend tried to cut them into tiny squares.
Where do they get the idea you get 150 plugs per sheet? Mine were muddy--no scoring on the dirt side--just mud and a few worms. I phoned and emailed them and they told me two different stories. First I should not cut them into 1 inch plugs then I should cut them into one inch plugs. It did not matter what size I cut them because they fell apart. I took some photos and I followed the directions. I wish I saw these comments on this website. So far the company has not been very nice to me on the phone. The proof is in the pudding. I am hoping it grows because it is back braking work.

"On Apr 1, 2009 3:10 PM, Zoysia Farm Nurseries responded with:

We are always sorry to hear when a customer is so obviously disappointed with their initial experience, but know in the end their effort will be rewarded with a beautiful zoysia lawn.

We learned yesterday, on March 31, that this customer had trouble cutting one inch plugs and today April 1st we further learned in a direct e-mail to us that this customer felt the grass was not up to the standard 10 x 15 inch size the would produce 150 – 1 inch plugs per sheet. The customer told us that only 160 plugs were cut from the four pieces of grass previously sent. We have already processed a no charge order for 450 additional plugs. These are to be delivered in May as requested by the customer. All this information has already been directly e-mailed to this customer earlier today.

Warm season grasses, like deciduous trees, go dormant in the winter and like deciduous trees come back each spring to be lush and beautiful. Dormant grass is not dead; it is simply waiting for the warm weather to turn green once again.
"

Grass arrived dead and is still dead 60 days later. Followed all the directions and am out 4 hours of my time and hundred bucks. What a sucker I was, lol. To be fair at one point I did see a single green shoot on one of the "plugs". It has since died.

It really is amazing to think these people at Zoysia have been around for 50 years shipping dead grass to people. Beyond the fact the product is trash, they mislead about most of the process.

First, there are no plugs as you are lead to believe. What they ship is basically flat sod pieces you must then spend many hours cutting into squares (not easy at all). Course your coverage with these falling apart plugs will always be less than advertised since no two "plugs" will ever be the same. Most of the turf breaks apart and an actual 1 inch solid plug is a rarity. This is because the grass is DEAD when it arrives and already is falling apart.

Second, Zoysia raves about their modern technology of shipment...which in truth is nothing more than a plastic bag inside a cardboard box dropped off on your porch by UPS guy. The box is so heavy most people will not be able to lift it, I didn't and I am a healthy man in my 40's.

If you are thinking about ordering Zoysia, I would tell not to. Save your money and time.

"

We are concerned when a customer is unhappy with their experience with our product. We take great pride in what we do and go to great effort to help them have a beautiful lawn.

Nevada is one of the states to which we ship that requires agriculture dept. inspection before shipment, so we know the product left here in good condition. Zoysia will quite often go dorment to protect itself when it is not getting nutrition, sunlight and water. This can happen in shipment. It can survive many weeks in this state. In its dormant state Zoysia grass goes a honey brown color which many people incorrectly think means the whole plant is dead. For this reason the first piece of information in each shipment is a sheet that says in big letters if the grass arrives brown, do not be alarmed it has gone dormant in shipment and not to worry, as once planted the grass will send up new shoots of grass. This can take 45-60 days from planting. Patience is required and as long as the planting and watering instructions are followed we very rarely see the plants not taking root hold and sending up new shoots of grass.

The greatest danger is the customer assumes it is dead and does not follow the instructions about planting and watering and then thinks negatively about the product and our company when it doesn't grow. Howerver, even in case such as that we honor our free replacement gruarantee if a plug doesn't grow. We only ask that they contact us directly after 45 days.

On our website, in a number of places, we show the grass in its shipping form as a sheet measuring 10 inches by 15 inches in pictures and discription. We inform potential customers that the pieces will be scored into 150 square plugs and the customer will have to finsh the seperation before planting. We recommend garden shears as the best way to cut the plugs apart. This is stated and shown multiple times on our site including in the Planting Zoysia tab. We try to make is clear and easy to understand before ordering.

Our shipping methods are as a result of may years of refinement and success. There is no great "modern technology" involved and we never claimed there was. We employ mainly women in our shipping department. Additionally, UPS has a weight limit of 70 lbs which we never exceed even on our biggest packages. If it comes close to the limit we ship in multiple boxes.

We stand by the information on our web site, our product, the methods of shipping and our guarantee to replace any grass plugs failing to grow within 60 days.

"

I received my order and first of all it was shorted. The plugs looked dead but I was told that they may be slightly brown when received. I planted the plugs using the EXACT instructions and the just continued to die off. NOTHING has survived. I have been a gardener for 20 years and tried to take the easy way out. From now on I will continue to grow my grass the old fashion way!

"

We are extremely sorry about the short shipment. The missing plugs are to arrive today 6/26 according to the UPS information we have.

As to the grass not growing, zoysia being a slow grower it can take over 45 days after planting for new growth to appear from the roots. In that time, the grass on top will probably go brown as the root system puts its energy into growing new blades of grass. In the short term this can give the appearance that the grass "continues to die". In actual fact the roots are growing and sending up new shoots of grass. Please be patient. Zoysia is slow, but that is part of its beauty as it will need less mowing once it is established. Rest assured, not matter what, we stand behind our product (with 50 years of experience) and will replace any plugs that fail to grow, free of charge.

This old fashion way maybe a little slower, but the end result is a fantastic lawn. It's worth the wait!"

I ordered about 2000 Zoysia plugs and live in SW Florida. The plugs were planted according to instructions in my backyard in the winter time (no rain). The soil here is strictly sand, so they were easy to put in. I watered them by hand every day for about 3 weeks and saw no progress. Since water is at a premium in the winter, I soon gave up and stopped (the water would have cost me more than the grass). However, I do have a sprinkling system which continued to water twice a week. Here it is 6 months later and not one of the plugs took. It's just as barren as it was before. I consider these plugs a complete waste of money and will sod my lawn next time.

"

We are sorry to learn of this situation. If the customer will contact us directly we would be happy to stand behind our guarantee to replace every plug free of charge.

Zoysia is highly successful in Florida, in general and in sandy soil particularly.

Zoysia is very drought tolerant and sometimes too much water will harm new roots. It is difficult to say if this might have been the cause without some discussion as there might be other issues also. No matter what the situation though we would still honor our guarantee. We view it as a no fault guarantee."

Received my "600" plugs in 4 dense mats of turf. They were allegedly scored to produce 150 plugs per mat. I was lucky to separate 1 mat into approximately 50 usable plugs. The plug cutter (step on) they sent clogged constantly and only made three holes prior to cleaning. The 30 holes I did manage to make took over 2 hours including planting cutting and cleaning.

It would have been less aggravating to have a landscaper come in till and plant turf. I have contacted the company insisting on a refund.

"

All Amazoy zoysia grass is field grown and harvested in sheet measuring 10 by 15 inches. This improves the viability of the plugs and helps with the handling of the product both by us and by the home owner. Before shipping we score each sheet on the earth side to help illustrate the 150 plugs in each piece. If the earth becomes dry, while in transit, it can become difficult to see the scoring, particularly if the sheets are roughly handled and some earth falls off. This is difficult to control.

In this case, it sounds as if the plugs were cut too big, if only 50 were produced. Making the plugs too big will make it difficult to fit into the holes made by the step on plugger, and will end up covering less area in total.

Lightly wetting the area to be planted will help condition the soil and improve the performance of the step on plugger. Too much water will tend to clog the step on plugger. It is a self cleaning tool which is open at both ends to allow the soil to be pushed through it.

Planting plugs is the economical way to grow a zoysia lawn. Each 1 inch plug will spread to fill in the area between, at the cost of half a penny or less for each plug. A square foot of quality zoysia sod to cover a similar area can cost many dollars each.

Less aggravation possibly, but much much harder on the wallet.

"

These people sent us DEAD grass plugs. It took 2 months for the DEAD plugs to arrive. We followed the directions exactly, planting the dry, shriveled, brown "grass plugs" as the directions said to do. Well, not one single blade of grass grew. We wasted our money on these liars, and contacted them about the complete failure of their product. After many e-mails back and forth, they finally agreed to refund 1/2 of our money. But, that money has NEVER arrived. Liars again. I will contact the Better Business Bureau in their town, and will tell everyone I know to NEVER buy anything from Zoysia. They need to be "run out of town on a rail," they need to cease and desist from running their "scam" thru the U.S. Mail, and I do not believe one word of any comment that suggests their product "works." Watch me! Zoysia, I will complain to everyone in your state, of your deceptive business practices. Where is the refund you promised to me??? You people are Liars, and Cheats!

I did a lot a research on Zoysia and decided to buy my plugs from ZFN. I purchased thousands of plugs (Spring 2006) to do my front and side yards. After the sheets of sod arrived I had trouble from the start. The sod was scalped with no dirt, not much of a root system and there was no possible way that you could cut these into one inch squares. I took pictures of the sod and wanted to send them to ZFN but they did not want to see them. They did send me some replacement plugs 6 weeks later. The replacement sod was not much better so I cut them into 3" squares and plated them. Over 50% of the plugs failed even though I watered and fertilized (with their fertilizer) consistently.

I would not recommend Zoysia Farms to anyone.

You only get what you pay for except with ZFN you get less.

This is just a scam. Got 4 pcs of sod that measured 10" X 15". Supposed to get 150 pcs out of each, no way. I expected to receive 600 plugs, not less than one peice of average sod. This is only 4 SF if you were to plant it as received. Beware of the company. I will go to Lowe's and by the sod, cut out the plugs and be $$$$$$$ ahead.

I ordered from Zoysia Farms Nurseries from a website in May 2007. The order was shipped one month earlier than promised. When I telephoned their non-toll-free number, the woman argued with me about what the order read. I said I wasn't making this up and would fax a copy of the order to her. She then because extremely rude- it was shocking. In my profession I deal with hundreds of businesses every week, from small one person companies to large corporations. It was shocking to hear such rude responses, calling me a liar, and then refuse to acknowledge their error. Sending any money to ZoysiaFarmNurseries is a complete waste of money. I'm surprised that they can stay in business and can only attribute any success to their flashy website and aggressive magazine advertising. Don't buy; do your research.

Laura

Do NOT do business with this company. They false advertise and their product is total crap. Learn from me, I threw my $86.00 out the window. I reported them to the BBB and have disputed the charge on my credit card. From reading the other comments it seems there is no way they are going to give me a refund and there is no way I am going to go through that hassle of planting a new shipment of plugs. This is the worst experience I have ever had with a business. I don't know how they sleep at night knowing they are stealing millions of dollars from people.

I was a fool and ordered from this crooked company. (I had trusted the ad because it was in a rural electric coop's newspaper.) The ad stated very clearly that they would ship at the earliest correct planting time for my area. Instead they shipped while it was still 20 degrees most nights and bearly 40 most days. I contacted them immediately and was treated rudely and they insisted I was supposed to call them long distance to listen to them rant and rave and act as though I had done something wrong.

I followed the instructions and eventually got the squares cut and planted worms and all. Again I followed the instructions and made sure they were properly watered only to watch nothing positive happen. However, my yard is infested with insects that have never been here before.

The other negative comments are on target as to what a mess, scam this company is. I feel certain there are thousands of people who have had similar experiences. This company needs exposed further until they shape up, pay up, or close their doors.

Contacted the company again and weeks later was sent a form acting as though I must not be telling the truth and stalling for more time for them to keep my money. I returned the form immediately. Today via snail mail an absurd, unsigned letter arrived stating they want to pay merely half of the total I paid them, if I won't accept replacement plants.

E mail to Edith on the unsigned letter bounced so they wanted my answer via snail mail for more stalling. I copied e mail to Laura and again told them I am going to turn this over to Federal Trade Commission, U.S. Attorneys and attorney generals, and seek class action lawsuit(s) for damages for everyone they have defrauded. They have used my money for 5 mos. and all I got was the expense and time of messing with having their trash planted, an insect infested yard, and trying to collect what they owe me.

mpankeyusa@yahoo.com

I placed my order in March. I was told orders would start shipping in early April. starting in May I started checking online for an approximate delivery date only to get the same generic"chain letter". Their claim was orders ship in two weeks. In 2 weeks time I had made 4 attempte to get a delivery date. Well, here it is June 28 and i finally got them to respond to my cancellation notice. I may have been more patient had they just treated me with a little more respect and responded to my e-mails. After reading some of the planting issues, I"m glad I cancelled the order. I will double check my credit card and make sure they did not bill me. I don't trust them.

I ordered 1600 plugs and plugger from this company in March 2007. When I received my order there was no packing list and by measuring the area of the plug sheets I was over 400 plugs short. I planted what came which were dead already and they are still dead. It took me over a month and several emails to get this company to ship my additional grass. When It (450 plugs by their count) I decided to plant each plug in individual containers with potting soil and baby them to transplant size. Time will only tell if this is successful.

Bottom line is, avoid this company at all costs. I would have been just a well off taking $100 and burning it.

At first, everything started out ok, the plugs arrived in a timely manner, I put them on a sheet of plastic and misted them. All but one of the sheets were in pretty good condition with soil and the ones that had soil were scored. No way you can cut out each individual plug, they are too small. So, I cut them into one inch squares as much as possible. Initially, I dug the holes too deep with the auger, then had to fill the holes back up to about 3/4 inch of the top. Anyway, so I did about half the lawn and wanted to order more but first had questions and e-mailed those questions....no answer. E-mailed 4 days in a row....no answer. This morning, I have tried to call several times....busy signal. I am about this far (finger and thumb about an eighth inch apart) from going to another company. My fear tho is that it will be so drastically different that it will look stupid. My negative review comes from them not returning e-mails and not so much the plugs...although, they weren't anything special.

Zoysia Farms is a joke.I placed an order on 3-21-07, along with my personal check. On 3-29-07 my check had cleared the bank and was in my bank statements.
Today , 5 weeks after my check has made it back to the bank and is in my filing cabinet, I still have not been contacted as to when I might expect my order.
I e-mailed them just a little while ago..I told them that I wanted them to refund my money, that I'd been more than patient with them,and that I didn't want to do business with them.
Also that I was going to take copies of my order,check and the e-mail to the postmaster,my attorney, and the BBB.
I've not gotten a reply from Zoysia Farms yet, but they have had my money in their pockets for 5 plus weeks and I'm not a very happy camper. There is NO excuse for this!