Need help! 1 1/2 acre front yard mostly dirt want grass

Howdy,
I cleared the trees, leveled the ground, got a house and now I want GRASS. I have tried 3 different types from the big BLUE store. Only the cheepest one took and they dont carry that brand any more, and I can't find it any whrere local. GRRRR... I have been tilling up a 100' X 25' strip and raking the rocks out then comming back with seed and fertilizer with a drop spreader then back draging with a plastic rake covering with straw and watering the heck out of it. I have maybe a third covered in sparce grass but the other two thirds are dirt and rocks. My dad saw an add for ZOYSIA grass in a magizine and is ready to buy some for me ... as long as I put the plugs in of course. The soil I have is mostly hard clay, and has up untill 8 years ago been sprayed with a herbicide as it is partly on a power line right of way. SO now to my question.... Is there a good place to buy the zoysia, is zoysia worth the trouble and if not what can I do different to have better results with my grass seed?

Thanks in advance
Bjorn

Here's a reference that may help you choose the best grass type(s) for your area. http://www.outsidepride.com/resources/states/virginia.html But whenever I hear that someone's tried several different kinds of grass and nothing's really working well, I always suspect there's something else going on other than poor grass choice. Particularly if the types of grass you've already tried are listed here as being good ones for your area, then you need to look into either your soil prep not being adequate, or some other factor like watering, fertilizing, etc being off. I don't have a lawn so I can't help much on how to take care of it, but if you share some info here on what types of grass you've tried, and how you've watered, mowed, fertilized, etc someone else may have some ideas of things you could try doing differently. Based on your description of your soil though I suspect you might benefit from incorporating some organic soil amendments in the process of prepping the ground for grass. Your soil may be in pretty rough shape, and if that's the case then just removing the rocks and adding some fertilizer may not be enough for the grass to really thrive.

I can't help you on what type of grass will be appropriate for your area. But, I can tell you that after we built our house 4 years ago, we had 5 acres of dirt to cover in grass (I DO feel your pain, lol). Mostly we got lucky and were able to spread seed and fertilizer and it grew nicely but we had several problem areas on slopes. I tried putting straw and the grass came up very thin. I went to Lowe's and got some of the burlap I've seen the highway dept. use and it worked great. The grass came up much thicker than where I had used straw. After the grass is up good, the burlap breaks down. If you choose to use burlap, be sure to get a good supply of landscape staples to tack it down with (they will rust away in time too). Good luck.

Once you plant it you got it for life I hear.
It goes straw/brown before most grasses do in the winter and stays brown long after others have greened up. It is very invasive. It won't allow weeds to survive - so I guess that it good. Roots go several feet down. We have a hard time growing even small patch of grass on our property --but still resistant to the commitment for the zoysia. It does make a thick carpet. As long as you have sun it will grow.

You don't want zoysia. it will be brown when everything else is green. I would say a good bluegrass. they have different strains and blends. it's not the cheapest, but in my opinion the best and most satisfying. it has a tendency to go dormant in the summer, but who wants to mow when it's a 100 deg anyway. I wouldn't fertilize anymore. You may need to put a netting to keep the birds from eating your seed. bg will eventually squeeze out your other grasses and weeds. If you have a nursery that specializes in grass seed in your area is your best bet. they will select strains that are better for your area. now is a good time to sow.