About Brazos™ Zoysiagrass

Brazos® Zoysiagrass was collected in 2006 during a family outing on an airboat ride in the Everglades of Florida. Zoysiagrass was growing all along the road leading to the airboat business entrance. The plant that became Brazos was identified as unique among 99% of the naturalized stand, which was fine textured and resembled Emerald zoysiagrass. It was a small plant, 3-4” in diameter, and was collected because it was the only plant with a leaf texture associated with Zoysia japonica. The plant was initially labeled as Glades #4, later UFZ11, and then entered in the 2013 National Turfgrass Evaluation Program as FAES1319.

Brazos was first planted as an experimental grass in trials at the Agronomy Forage Research Unit (Hague, FL) and the Plant Science Research Unit (PSEREU; Citra, FL), where it was advanced for good performance. In 2012, it was shared with Texas A&M University, Oklahoma State University, The University of Georgia, and North Carolina State University as part of a large group of experimental zoysiagrasses exchanged between the universities. It was planted and evaluated for persistence under drought conditions. Trials between the universities were conducted over several years with Brazos being selected as an advanced line for its favorable drought responses, including an ability to retain quality as drought progresses and its ability to recover quickly following a period of rain or adequate irrigation.

Within Florida, also in 2012, Brazos and 80 additional zoysiagrasses were planted at five locations: Jay, FL (with Dr. Bryan Unruh at WFREC), PSREU, Duda Farms (Melbourne, FL), RB Farms (Lake Placid, FL), and at Bethel Farms (Arcadia, FL). Brazos was identified as one of the five best-performing lines trialed throughout the state at the end of five years. It performed well in a variety of conditions and was noted for good establishment, drought tolerance, winter color retention, and its consistent performance.

In 2013, Brazos was entered into the National Turfgrass Evaluation Program (NTEP) zoysiagrass trial. Considering that Brazos originates from a collection in South Florida, it performed better than expected across the diverse NTEP locations, including good performance in many of the colder locations. The NTEP trials reinforced its merits of good turf quality, drought resistance, disease resistance, winter color retention, and high consistency across locations. The 2013 NTEP trial concluded in 2018 with Brazos as the overall #1 performing experimental entry. Hence, it was entered in the 2019 NTEP zoysiagrass trial and, again, is one of the best-performing entries across all locations. The best qualities of Brazos are its consistent performance across a wide range of growing conditions, its winter color retention, its drought resistance, and its ability to tolerate a range of mowing heights (0.5” to 2.5”). It has good shade tolerance for a Zoysia japonica. While it will get some large patch, data supports that it is not as susceptible as most commercially available zoysiagrasses. Brazos was released from the University of Florida in ??? and commercialized as Brazos in 2023. It is named after the Brazos River, where my wife Brandi and I met while I worked for Thomas Bros. Grass, Ltd in Granbury, TX.

Brazos, born in the Florida Everglades; named after the iconic Texas River!

Sincerely,

Dr. Kevin Kenworthy - Breeder, University of Florida