# Leveling Zoysia



## datcope (Oct 29, 2018)

So I have detailed my plans for the Bermuda in the front yard of scalping it to 0.5", leveling with sand and establishing the new HOC at 1.5", down from 3.5". My question is, how much of what I plan to do to the Bermuda in the front yard is applicable to the Palisades Zoysia which I have also been mowing at a HOC of 3.5" in the back yard?


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## Still learnin (Sep 9, 2017)

Can do the same with Zoysia, it'll just recover from the leveling a little slower. May need to dethatch the Zoysia as it can get a thick layer of thatch, depending on the last time it was done.


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## datcope (Oct 29, 2018)

@Still learnin thanks!


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

@Spammage and @jayhawk are my go to when I have a question involving zoysia


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## Greendoc (Mar 24, 2018)

I can tell you that mowing Zoysia lower with a rotary mower is just hard on the Zoysia. The blade starts to grab the stems and roots rather than cut the grass cleanly. With Zoysia, either you go reel low or you keep it high. Trying to go below 2" with a rotary is not nice for the grass.


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## Spammage (Apr 30, 2017)

Greendoc said:


> I can tell you that mowing Zoysia lower with a rotary mower is just hard on the Zoysia. The blade starts to grab the stems and roots rather than cut the grass cleanly. With Zoysia, either you go reel low or you keep it high. Trying to go below 2" with a rotary is not nice for the grass.


I agree. When I first put in the El Toro, I was mowing once a week with a John Deere rider and cutting at 2". By the end of the summer, the grass tips would fray even with razor sharp blades because of how thick the grass gets. If you want a low maintenance, drought tolerant lawn at 2-2.5", a japonica can be great. You have to make sure the blades are kept very sharp and that you don't over fertilize it though. Zoysia patch is more prevalent in higher cut zoysia though in my experience.


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## Greendoc (Mar 24, 2018)

I can confirm the increased Zoysia Patch in high cut lawns. Never saw it in El Toro when every month of the year we had sun and warm weather. Irregardless of if that lawn was reel low or not. Now, high mowed Zoysia can turn into a dead mess by December. Difference is, that it now rains a lot here. Gets cool starting in November. Cool and wet is Zoysia Patch weather.


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## Spammage (Apr 30, 2017)

Yep, here that starts last week of September/1st week of October.


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## datcope (Oct 29, 2018)

@Greendoc @Spammage Thanks for the insight! So, if I keep the height at 2.5", my mower blades sharp and I don't over fertilize, I should be......



Regarding fertilizer, do either of you have a recommendation on what type of fertilizer to use?


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## Greendoc (Mar 24, 2018)

As little as possible, if you cannot mow low, Zoysia is best kept underfed.


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## datcope (Oct 29, 2018)

@Greendoc thanks! BTW, I did a Google search on 'underfed'....learned a new word today. lol


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## Greendoc (Mar 24, 2018)

High mowed Zoysia is not to be kept as a high input grass. Ration water as well. I have seen Zoysia with water rationed and fertilizer limited grow at very moderate rates. Zoysia that is heavily fertilized and watered a lot grows faster than Bermuda. I looked up Palisades because I am not familiar. It is similar to El Toro. You do not water or feed El Toro heavily unless there are provisions to mow it low very frequently and it is growth regulated. To do contrary to that can lead to a grass that tries to grow up to 6" per week.


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