What do your neighbors' Zoysia lawns look like that didn't use any synthetic, fast-release fertilizer 3 weeks ago?

Also how many inches of rain have you been getting and when did it rain?

Nice landscaping, by the way.

You said you had been keeping your Empire zoysia at 3 inches, but now it's at 2 inches. Does that mean you cut it at 2 inches for the first time very recently?

That is just dormant(dead) leaf blades from winter.

It is still there because you didn't make a low enough cut when it first started greening.

If you had cut it to, say, 1" and let it grow back up to maintain at 2", all that brown would be down below the leaf canopy and you wouldn't see it.

I would go ahead and cut it a little lower once, and then maintain at 2" if that's the desired height. Before it gets hot for sure.

Zoysia Sod, Thank you for the complement...Bought a foreclosure and was forced to start from scratch (All dirt yard), so tried to do something different. I went back and forth between the Milorganite and this product (basically a 3-1-2 synthetic) several times. However, given the mixture of both slow and fast release nitrogen, I wanted to give this one a try this year. Milorganite, did not seem to have enough kick to make it a dark green last year.

I do automatically water it (I know check the leaves), once a week, from a well, for about 1" per zone at a time. In the summer I have to go to a twice a week schedule.

Grasshole/ZoysiaSod

I had kept it at 3" all last year, but this year tried to go to 1" per some recommendations. However, when I started it was all twigs and dirt. It just scared me to much to do this to my whole lawn, given how much the sod cost, and the fact I would have a dirt front yard for 1-2 months. So I did try it in a couple of places as an experiment, and 1.5 months later those areas seem to be just starting to recover. So I have been keeping it at 2" with a hair cut every four days for now. I wanted to do this until the lawn was growing steady and then go down one more notch on the lawnmower to 1.4".

However, I just wanted to see if others where having the same issue that kept their Zoysia higher than average.

Thank you for the feedback!!

Oceanfrank wrote:
> I just wanted to see if others where having the same issue that kept their Zoysia higher than average.

Hi Oceanfrank. I should preface things by saying I have Meyer Zoysia which, of course, is a little different that your Empire Zoysia. I don't know a lot about Empire.

If the scraggly looking stuff in the photos is all brown or all white in color at this point in time, it's probably dead grass from the winter, and won't be coming back. I suppose it's destined to become thatch eventually? If the scraggly stuff is partially green--say half green and half brown/white--then it's alive and is still awakening from dormancy.

I can tell you from my own little experiment that making a scalping cut just 0.25 inches below the regular maintenance cutting height doesn't hide the dead material. For example, I "scalped" my zoysia at 2 inches and was maintaining a regular cutting height of 2.25 inches. The hold-over dead blades that never awoke from dormancy were hidden quite well as the grass grew just a little bit above the 2.25 inch cut. In fact the brown/white scragglies just about became invisible in short order. But the next time I made a maintenance cut at 2.25 inches, the dead scraggly brown/white material was again visible in my lawn.

So I learned that cutting 0.25 inches below the maintenace height is not a low enough scalp. I know my Zoysia has all greened up now because when I closely inspect the blades, they are 100 percent green from base to tip, except for the dead material which is 100 percent white from base to tip. There are no blades any longer that are 30 percent green or 50 percent green or 70 percent green. They are all either 100 percent green or 100 percent white.

In summary, when my grass grows just a little higher than its maintenance cutting height of 2.25 inches, the scraggly dead material becomes invisible, but as soon as I cut the lawn down to 2.25 inches again, the scraggly brown/white blades reappear, because I "scalped" them to 2 inches, which is just 0.25 inches less that the maintenance cutting height of 2.25.

So this week, I will scalp even lower. I will adjust my mower's wheel height so that the mower's blade is 1.6 inches high. This will mean the dead grass from winter will be 0.65 inches below the living green grass the next time I do a regular mainteance cut at 2.25 inches. And hopefully that 0.65 inch difference will be enough to hide them.

That probably also means less thatch later on as there will be a smaller amount of dead material in the lawn.

By the way, I made the low 2-inch "scalping" cut for my lawn on March 10, early in the season, when the whole lawn was still completely tan, not a hint of green showing. Not sure if that was too early or not, but things have worked out well. I bagged those scalped clippings and have been using them as mulch here and there.

Fantastic response. Thank you. This is the exact strategy I was going to employ in the next week or two. Going down to 1.6 and letting it get back to 2". However, since I lowered it from roughly 3" - 2" to start, I wanted to give it a month to recover. Also today I finally did a soil test, after I saw four dark green rings around my tree. Yes, right where I put the Tree Fertilizer Spikes. Came back very high in Phosphorus (expected in Florida), average in Potash and Depleted in Nitrogen. I was stunned especially since I used a 24-0-4 (16 fast) 3-4 weeks ago. I also went out and started to manually thatch the front yard to determine how much was dead. Can you believe I was able to pull about 4 yard bags just from the photo you can see. This was after pulling close to 14 bags in Early March when I too cut it to 2". So I think by going down to 1.6" next week and applying 6-2-0 Organic slow release, I am hoping to turn things around this year. Then I will maintain it at 2" all year, and be ready for next year with a low cut to 1.6" to start. Part of my problem was that I did not cut it at all over the winter, and I let it get to around 3-4 inches.

I had kept it at 3" all last year, but this year tried to go to 1" per some recommendations. However, when I started it was all twigs and dirt. It just scared me to much

It is suppose to look like that after it is scalped, and is a good thing.

Zoysia and Bermuda are the two varieties that respond positively by being scalped, especially Zoysia.

Al that tan grass you see is last years growth. It will never green up. It will have to decay. By scalping you remove all that material, and yes it will look like nothing but twigs and stems.

Zoysia has one major major problem. It is a heavy thatch producer which leads to all kinds of problems with insects, disease, fungal problems, and watering issues. By scalping each year followed by a good raking removes the thatch buildup. Zoysia is a very tough fibrous plant and the clippings and dead dormant grass breaks down very slowly, so it accumulates very quickly forming thatch. You need to get rid of it.

In addition Zoysia needs very little fertilizer, only 2 to 3 applications per growing season. If you go pushing too much fertilizer on it will cause thatch problems because you are forcing it to grow faster than normal. It receives its first fertilizer application after it has greened up and been mowed at least once, twice is perfect. This is well after it has been scalped earlier in the season.

Second application is done 8 to 10 weeks after the first application and you are dome for the year in most areas of the country. In Gulf Coast states where you have very long growing seasons a third application is applied 8 to 10 weeks after the second application, or about 2 months before first frost.

So my recommendation is to quit killing your grass with kindness. Scalp it down every year before it starts to green up, rake it hard to remove all the debris, wait until it has been mowed once or twice before you apply the first fertilizer application of the year, do not over fertilize it, and alternate between bagging and mulch mowing to minimize thatch build up during the season. Do that and the grass will reward you. It may not make you happy, but it will make the grass happy happy.

I hope everyone had a Happy Easter and Happy Passover.

My goodness, scalping a Zoysia lawn at 2 inches is much easier than scalping it at 1.6 inches. 2 inches can hardly be called a scalp--that's more like a normal cutting height for zoysia, and it's not particularly difficult.

1.6 inches takes some effort, however. I had never cut my lawn so low before. Zoysia is a thick grass; it's not easy scalping it at 1.6 inches with a rotary mower. I would hope using a reel mower is easier. My rotary mower propels itself too.

The bag fills fast and clogs fast. Even if you take the bag off, the mower's engine will on occasion start to cut off as the mower's blade slows too much. My mower cut off a couple times, and came close to cutting off many more times. Lots of cut grass was left on the lawn too, which I later had to rake up after finishing the cut.

My lawn is not the most level, so I wonder if a flatter, more level zoysia lawn would be easier to scalp at 1.6 inches with a rotary mower. I think my mower is reasonably well-powered at 6.5 horsepower, and it has a reliable Briggs & Stratton engine using the best oil: synthetic 10w-30 Pennzoil Ultra (even better than Platinum).

I think folks driving by thought I was certifiably bazoinkers "ruining" the best, most weed-free lawn in the neighborhood, turning it brown. After a while, it was too much to take, so I decided I needed to place outside on my lawn my bright-orange Earthway EZ-Spred 2050P broadcast spreader with the big 10-inch pneumatic wheels. After doing so, I could tell folks driving by no longer thought I was bazoinkers when they saw the spreader on the lawn. In fact, they looked on admiringly and with curiosity. "What's that bright orange thing that must be used for the lawn somehow?" I could empathically sense them asking. One guy down the street who I hardly know slowed down to wave and say hi--probably wanted a better glimpse at the Earthway.

I guess since the lawn is so short, I might as well fertilize it organically tomorrow.

Weed free?

Zoysia Sod you sure change your story a lot. Just yesterday, and in the past week, you talk about all the weeds you have with lots of clover, which you said you welcome in your lawn? Then you talk about all the different methods of organic weed control you have tried with not much success.

I think you are a bit windy with your stories, and not keeping track of what you have told. Sorry but that is just the way I and others are receiving you. You are all over the place with a different story in each thread.

Well, Texas-Weed, maybe you should try reading a little more carefully. I didn't say my lawn was weed-free. I said my lawn is the "most weed-free lawn in the neighborhood."

I went up and down the street perusing the lawns.

But I don't expect you to quote folks correctly.

I would think "most weed-free" would mean 0 weeds or very close to it...just my thoughts not that they matter...

Well, you're mistaken Mofo--like Texas-weed.

They must be mistaken because they don't have a bright-orange Earthway EZ-Spred 2050P broadcast spreader with the big 10-inch pneumatic wheels like you do.

It's a swell spreader, available on Amazon. It's one of Earthway's cheapest at $89.

I love the wheels.

Texas-Weed,

Thank you for the response. I hear what you are saying and I did take that advice in one experimental section of my lawn about 3 weeks ago, cutting it to 1.6" That area is about 50% back, with the other areas still in question. At this rate it could be two months before I make my first cut on that area (Yes at 2" still can't cut it). At the time I asked for Zoysia I was not well informed of the cultivars. The grass I thought I was getting turned out to be Emerald (Fine blade), but the cultivar I got was Empire (course blade). The empire lawns that I can see examples of are a completely different animal with this green part of the leaf, starting from the ground. Mine is starting at the tip of each stem. So when they cut it down it still remains green, when I do it it is all sticks. I have not seen anybody cut Empire to the point that they are looking at dirt and sticks, not even the golf courses. So you can see my reservation. I trust you have a lot of experience in this area, which is why I was soliciting for anybody using empire. If they did this on an annual basis with success.

It's because *they* never let their grass get too tall.

When the grass gets tall, it shades the lower blades out, leaving long leggy stems behind.

If you never let it get tall, the canopy will stay low to the ground, like *they's*.

You gotta be like Nike and "Just Do It". The hotter it gets, the tougher it will be on the grass. Right now, it is cooler, and the sun is lower in the sky than it will be in a month or 2. The time is now.

Think of it this way.

*They's* grass has stems JUST like yours does. With green grass growing out the ends of the stems JUST like yours, too.

Think of the stem's job as getting the green leaves in full view of the sun. If you let the green leaves get too long, they will cast shade onto other leaves. Then the stems have to do their job and get taller so their green leaves can get some sun. Then other stems have to get taller to get sun to their leaves, and so on, and so on, etc.

This cycle won't end until you cut low and make it start over.

This is the awesome thing about our zoysia and bermuda. You get to almost erase it and start over each spring with that first low cut.

That area is about 50% back, with the other areas still in question.

What are your area temps like. Keep in mind Zoysia is very slow to green up and it needs to be pretty warm with day temps of up around mid 80's, and nights above 60.

OceanFrank, if you can find a mower whose wheel settings can be adjusted to a blade height of 1.8 inches, that might help.

I know my mower's first three settings are 1.3 inches, 1.6, and 2 inches. If only there were a setting between 1.6 and 2--like 1.8, I bet it would have been a lot easier for me to scalp the zoysia. Even a quarter inch difference in blade height makes a big difference. Maybe a neighbor or friend of yours has a mower that can be adjusted to 1.8 inches. Good luck.

Or forget about decimal points and simply cut it 1/2 as high as you'd like to maintain it. Barring that 1/2 as high as you are maintaining is not hitting dirt when you scalp. You just don't want to hit dirt. Not the end of the world of you do, though. It'll grow back.

It really is that easy.

Grasshole wrote:
> Or forget about decimal points and simply cut it 1/2 as high as you'd like to maintain it.

He won't know where half as high on his mower is if he doesn't measure the blade height with a ruler. The fractions on a ruler translate easily to decimal points, ie., 1 & 1/4 inch is 1.25 inches. Not rocket science.

I scalped my front lawn's Meyer zoysia at 1.6 inches over last weekend. It looked quite brown after the scalping, but today, just 3 days later, the zoysia looks significantly greener. Very happy. She's coming back.

Since the grass is conveniently short, today I applied about 20 pounds of Bradfield Organics "Luscious Lawn & Garden" alfalfa pellets to the front lawn, and I watered it in with about 1/3 to 1/2 inch of water using a sprinkler.

A couple weeks ago, I accidentally scalped a small 2-foot-square section of my neighbors median, also Meyer Zoysia. But I mean I accidentally scalped it low--really low--much lower than 1.6 inches. It was scalped just about all the way down to dirt. A week later, the scalping was barely visible. It had greened so much. (Uneven ground resulted in the accidental, super low scalping. I really wasn't experimenting with my neighbor's median, although it may sound like it [chuckle]

I scalped my front lawn's Meyer zoysia at 1.6 inches over last weekend. It looked quite brown after the scalping

If that brown you are referring too is last years dormant leaf material, then you did not cut it low enough. After you scalp all that should be left is just stubble. That will also allow you to get a rake and remove thatch build up.

Last weekend, after the 1.6-inch scalping, just about the whole lawn was brown, not just last year's dormant leaf material.

Today, 3 days later, the lawn is still pretty brown but you can see that the green is starting to return.

ZoysiaSod, From the sounds of it, it looks like you maintain your lawn at 2" too. Can you post pictures of what your lawn looks like scalped at 1.6" so I have a reference to compare against.

OceanFrank, I would post pics but I have a cheap 3-year-old phone with only a 1 megapixel camera. The photos wouldn't look so good. I've been considering a new phone, but, hell, this one still works fine. Maybe I'll buy a used 5-megapixel phone cheap on Ebay, but then I'd have a new phone to learn. We'll see.

Would you believe I still have some shirts and shorts that I wear from 25 years ago--from 1987. At 45, I'm actually thinner now than I was back then. The clothes still fit me--I ain't throwing them away--I like'm [chuckle]

....I even got socks with holes and underwear with holes that I still wear. They ain't torn enough yet - Lol.

And I'll let you in on a secret. The older the socks and underwear are, the more comfortable they are to wear :-) You think I'm kidding. I'm not :-)

OceanFrank, I would post pics but I have a cheap 3-year-old phone with only a 1 megapixel camera.

Horse manure. 1 meg pictures are way too large for internet forum pictures. Largest you should be posting on a forum is 640 x 480 otherwise you skew the forum. FWIW a 640x480 is 0.3 Meg. You have way more camera than you need for forum pictures.

Texas-Weed wrote:
> Horse manure.

Texas-weed, it sounds like you're biased against certain kinds of cameras. Sad to hear that.

Texas-weed, it sounds like you're biased against certain kinds of cameras. Sad to hear that.

Huh? All I meant is you are making up excuses. You have more than enough camera to take and post pictures on a forum. The old Sony 500/kb pixel cameras that used floppy disk are more than enough, and they were made 15 years ago.

Texas-weed, you're very mistaken. A one megapixel camera will yield bad photos of grass. Maybe you've forgotten the previous photos I've posted here before like this one of some seedlings that sprouted early:

{{gwi:80051}}

However, I've had this 1-mexapixel camera for 3 years now, so although it continues to work well and I don't like to retire things before their time (waste of our planet's natural resourses), yesterday I did order online a phone with a better camera. So OceanFrank, I will post the photo you asked about late next week or so.

You have more Fairy Tales, Excuses,Blather, and less experience than than NoBama. I am done with you.

Texas-weed wrote:
> You have more Fairy Tales, Excuses,Blather, and less experience than than NoBama. I am done with you.

My you are a mean man. I'm sure glad you're not my father--whew.

You bet I am one mean SOB. All my kids are either Doctors, Engineers or Business owners. All of them were millionaires before they turned 30. I did not give them a penny, just gave them conservative values, motivation, education, and the fear of God.

By the way, if anyone wants to buy cellphones at good, low prices, I ordered mine yesterday from MobileKarma.com . It's a used phone, so the price was right, and I'm recyling a richer person's cellphone--maybe one used by Texas-weed in the past.

>"I will post the photo you asked about late next week or so"

Oh boy. I can hardly wait!

So I have a problem. I re-sodded my yard almost 2 years ago with empire zoysia. I also added two sprinkler heads in the middle of the yard as I thought it was not getting enough water, this was one of the reasons I believe led to the destruction of the last sod and why I had to replace my sod in a two year old home. However I am no irrigation professional and I did not bother to lay cans out to measure how the water dispersed throughout my yard. From my perspective it looks as if the middle of the yard is still not receiving enough H20? I really don't know? At the beginning of the growing season (mid february) I cut my grass to about 2 inches to remove thatch build up! I have been cutting my yard during the growing season at 3 inches. I also fertilized my yard February 22, 2012 with a slow release nitrogen formula (lesco 16-4-8) at a rate of approximately 1.5-2 lbs per 1000 sq. feet. My yard looks great besides the middle section. Also my sprinkler zone in the front yard is a follows; basically the zone is a square. To the street the length =20 feet and from my driveway to the neighbors yard the width = 50 feet. I have 4 inch pop up heads (hunter). 4 each on the width side and 2 each on the length sides and the two i put in the center of the yard! I have not don't a soil sample test yet as I think the problem is with the watering. I just bought a sprinkler last week and placed it in the middle of the yard! I will take some pics tomorrow, any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Quit guessing, and measure the sprinkler output over the yard. Place straight sided containers all over the yard and run the system.

You can't measure what you cannot measure. Get the soil and water flow tests done, then you will have facts to work with. Until then you are throwing expensive solutions at unknown problems in hope of a lottery fix.