Innovation Zoysiagrass – The Product of 17+ Years of Research
Finding good grasses takes time; many years in fact. Welcome to the market InnovationTMZoysiagrass, the product of 17+ years of research by Texas A&M and Kansas State University.
In the first days of the research that led to Innovation, more than 800 individual, genetically different zoysiagrass hybrids were developed at Texas A&M AgriLife Research Center in Dallas in 2001. Grasses were planted in Manhattan, KS in 2004 and evaluated for quality and winter survival between 2004 and 2006.
Innovation was one of 31 hybrids selected for further evaluation at Manhattan in 2007 and 2008 under golf course conditions. These 31 were later narrowed to seven hybrids, including Innovation, which were evaluated at nine locations in the transition zone under typical lawn or golf course fairway management conditions from 2009 to 2012.
The locations were Wichita and Manhattan, KS; Columbia, MO; Fletcher and Jackson Springs, NC; Stillwater, OK; Knoxville, TN; Virginia Beach, and Blacksburg, VA; and Dallas, TX. Innovation was developed to be an improved alternative to Meyer Zoysia and made its commercial debut at the Golf Industry Show in Feb. 2018. Presently, there are over 30 sod farms licensed to grow Innovation with limited availability in 2020 and more widespread availability in 2021.
For more information, visit InnovationZoysia.com or read more about Innovation in a related Turf Talk blog, Innovation Zoysiagrass: A New High Quality Variety from Texas A&M and Kansas State.
