The Sports Club at Mediterra, a luxury residential golf community in Naples, Fla., is experimenting with Empire Zoysia for 26,000 square feet of turf that surrounds the fitness center and spa facility.
“We’re looking to see if this is an option to replace our existing St. Augustine grass,” says Scott Whorrall, Mediterra’s director of golf operations. The development includes two 18-hole, Tom Fazio-design championship golf courses. “It’s too early to tell how much water we’ll save, but it is certainly nicer looking and more pleasant to walk on than St. Augustine grass.”
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Empire Zoysia is a hardy variety of turf that's said to require less than half the water and a third of the fertilizer of the widely used St. Augustine grass.
Riverland Nursery, owned by Mayer Berg, assisted Whorrall in selecting plants and turf that reduce the need for irrigation. With stringent water-use regulations in force throughout the region and a growing number of communities passing laws limiting the use of fertilizer to protect water quality, it’s important for developments such as Mediterra to find turf and landscaping plants that require less of both.
Discovered in Brazil, this grass possesses a deep root structure that allows it to tolerate drought. Its dark green, densely packed blades provide a lush, soft carpet of grass that requires little fertilizer to maintain. It’s also shade tolerant and chinch-bug resistant.
Once-a-week watering keeps Empire Zoysia looking green and healthy. In addition, it can be cut to 1½ inches, rather than the 3 inches recommended for St. Augustine. That means fewer cuttings and less maintenance for the grounds staff.
Riverland and Bethel Farms in Arcadia, supplied Mediterra’s Empire Zoysia, while Paraisso Landscape of Lehigh Acres installed it. All three are working with Whorrall on the trial.
“Scott is a leader in sustainable landscaping,” says Berg, who is also a member of the Sustainable Landscape Council. “Mediterra was the first private 36-hole golf course to earn the Audubon International Silver Signature Sanctuary status, and this project is in keeping with that philosophy.”
Mediterra also won an Environmental Leaders in Golf Award from the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America and Golf Digest magazine in the private course category.