First you are not going to find anybody here to recommend ScottÂs lawn service as this place is dedicated to folks who prefer premium lawn care.

To answer your first question yes you can do a much better job yourself for a whole lot less money. However you cannot have it both ways as organic and synthetic or two different things completely and any service is pure chemical.

The first thing you have done wrong is mowing way too high for Zoysia, and the second is you have way over fertilized the grass. Zoysia is notorious for thatch and over fertilizing causes thatch. Zoysia only needs two fertilizer application per season sometimes 3 in southern climates where the growing season is extended. It is way too late this year to fix or do anything now.

Just out of curiosity, have you gone by Scott's office to take a look at the grass at their office? I went by this place near me and the grass didn't exactly look like their brochures. In fact it looked like you know what.
Follow T-Dubs advice above or also browse over the care pamphlets from the various online sources.

Yup. Quirky is right.

There's a guy who lives down the road from me who operates a Scott's lawncare service.

His lawn doesn't look great. I figure if he can't make his own lawn look great, what chance does he have to do so on somebody else's property.

It's been said that services like that *create problems* so that they can earn money fixing them. Kind of reminds me of the automotive industry.

I tried to look up the local scotts in the phone book to see if I could spot them on the aerial photo and compare to nearby office parks. The address isn't shown but guess what is.

I finally did find the location on google maps but the imagery would appear to predate the business being there.

Thanks for the advice. I feel the natures lawn products do work. what do i search for to find what i need done to my front yard(zoysia). What needs to be done this year for winter coming up, dethatching/power rake, what are suggestions on going organic?. What needs to be done in spring. Any Answers or suggestions on the KBG idea? thanks again!

You search "Zoysia Grass" on GOOGLE.

What you do now? has already been answered: NOTHING NOW IT IS TOO LATE and YOU OVER FERTLIZED so all you can do is wait till next Spring.

Next Spring when you start to see it green up, whack it down as low as you can, and rake up all the debris. Then you will need to de-thatch the lawn with a Vertical Mower (aka Power rake). After verti-cutting remove all the debris again. From this point you can top-dress with top soil or compost if you wish to further break down any remaining thatch.

Once you see it about 75% green, apply a complete slow release urea fertilizer with a 3-1-2 or 4-1-2 ratio fertilizer like 15-5-10 or 20-5-10, at a rate of 1-pound of nitrogen per 1000/ft2. Repeat one more fertilizer application 8-weeks later with just plain ole straight slow release urea. After that you are done for the year until next spring with fertilizer. If you go to some place like Lesco and buy a 50-pound bag of 15-5-20 (product number 500258) and 39-0-0 (000777) will cost you about $50. With a 3000/ft2 lawn that should last you many years (7-years for the 15-5-10, and 19 years for 39-0-0), that works out to be less than $5 per year. How much does ScottÂs charge per year or a single application?

What you use as a fertilizer; organic, synthetic, or synthesized organic (urea) is not near as important as proper fertilizer timing, mowing and watering. Get these three right and things will work out. If you go the organic route plain ole soybean meal is the best IMO in terms of effectiveness and economics. If you go the Soybean route it is about 300% more than the synthesized organic route of using slow release urea. Considering the size of your lawn of 3000/ft2 not a lot of money to consider. Using a commercial organic product will be considerably more and less effective than soybean meal. For 3000/ft2 lawn you will need 1 50-pound bag of soybean meal for each application which depending on local prices may be as high as $12 due to the ethanol hoax.

Mowing is straight forward. For Z-52 it needs to be maintained between ¾ and 1-1/2 inches and no higher. The height you choose depends on what kind of mower you have. If you have a reel type you can go down to ¾-inch. Otherwise as low as you rotary mower will allow without scalping.

Watering is simple. Z-52 is very drought and heat resistant. All you need to do is water when needed at a basic rate of 1-inch per application without run off. Sounds like you already are on track to know how much time it takes to apply 1-inch. Now all you need to do is figure out when by letting the grass tell you when it needs watering. Simple; you look at it and walk on it.

That is all there is to it. Each spring check on the thatch build up as Zoysia is notorious for thatch build up especially when over-fertilized and allowed to grow too tall. General rule of thumb is Zoysia needs de-thatched every 2-years or every year if over-fertilized.

I spread my lawn with zoysia seeds. It started to grow beautifully. However, one day my fiance cleaned the fish tank and emptied all the dirty, smelly fish water in the back yard lawn, which killed all the grass and it has not grewn back since. Now all that grows is algae, moss and crab grass. I hate to pay for a landscaping service because I know it will be expensive. I am a first time homeowner and this is my first time caring for my own yard. Advice on what I can do to get my lawn beautiful? Also, what is good to use to keep down bugs in my lawn?