# Emerald Zoysia Mowing Height



## gijoe4500 (Mar 17, 2017)

My front lawn is emerald zoysia. I have been finding a lot of conflicting information on mowing height. About 1/2 of the lawn is fairly heavily shaded by a live oak tree. I want to get in there and thin out the canopy of the tree, but can't until July because of the possibility of oak wilk. Until then, what would be the ideal HOC for the zoysia? I've seen everything from 0.5" (for full sun areas) all the way up to 2.5".

I know mowing low looks better, but right now I'm primarily focused on health, encouraging thickening and spreading of the grass.

Also, I know zoysia is stunted by scalping, so if mowing higher is ideal in the shade, once I get the tree thinned out, what is the proper way to get HOC lower again?


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## Spursup (Jul 4, 2018)

I mow my emerald zoysia around 0.6". I tried .5" but the ideal HOC for me and my reel mower is .6". good luck


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## bmw (Aug 29, 2018)

gijoe4500 said:


> My front lawn is emerald zoysia. I have been finding a lot of conflicting information on mowing height. About 1/2 of the lawn is fairly heavily shaded by a live oak tree. I want to get in there and thin out the canopy of the tree, but can't until July because of the possibility of oak wilk. Until then, what would be the ideal HOC for the zoysia? I've seen everything from 0.5" (for full sun areas) all the way up to 2.5".
> 
> I know mowing low looks better, but right now I'm primarily focused on health, encouraging thickening and spreading of the grass.
> 
> Also, I know zoysia is stunted by scalping, so if mowing higher is ideal in the shade, once I get the tree thinned out, what is the proper way to get HOC lower again?


Great question, we can bond over this. I have an emerald zoysia front lawn also that gets shaded by trees but gets a few hours of direct sun. I have some huge competition with tree roots/shade, etc... and I have some thin spots. I'm going to try to grow mine a little higher this year because I've read that partially shaded grass needs the extra foliage to produce as much photosynthesis as possible. I've been cutting at about 1.5" and am going to try 2". But I've also read that mowing low every 5 days will help it spread, so I'm at a confused point also. I was wondering about thatch issues with a higher cut, but as long as I'm mowing every 5-7 days it shouldn't be much of an issue.

Speaking of conflicting theories, I've read that partially shaded lawns need less fertilizer to not stress it out and I've also read they need more. So which is it?


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## bmw (Aug 29, 2018)

Another thing about mowing height, I got Allyn Hane's email the other day that stated the proper mowing height of Centipede is 3" or more, which I totally disagree with. In my opinion ,and many others it should be 1"-2". It likes to be lower. So, in other words, you will get differing opinions on this mowing height topic.


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## Hambone79 (Jul 23, 2017)

I have personally never managed Emerald Zoysia, but I do know that it prefers a lower mowing height in adequate light conditions. I have managed other types of Zoysia and once they are thinning due to lack of sunlight, raising the height of cut helps alleviate further thinning because it allows for more leaf surface area on the plant to collect light and complete photosynthesis. Raising the height will help with the decline and improve vigor somewhat, but it will still not be as thick and lush as your full sun areas. Applying Primo will also help with decline in shaded areas, as it slows down growth and allows the grass to devote more resources to photosynthesis.


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## jayhawk (Apr 18, 2017)

I don't have an ideal for 'heavy shade' but I would not go under an inch, but I think you'd want to keep it at a height where you mow less (e.g 10-14 days), keep the N low.

Even if u thinned in July, I can't imagine it's in an environment for .6 so u can probably bring it down some w/o cutting into the crown.


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## viva_oldtrafford (Apr 4, 2018)

bmw said:


> gijoe4500 said:
> 
> 
> > My front lawn is emerald zoysia. I have been finding a lot of conflicting information on mowing height. About 1/2 of the lawn is fairly heavily shaded by a live oak tree. I want to get in there and thin out the canopy of the tree, but can't until July because of the possibility of oak wilk. Until then, what would be the ideal HOC for the zoysia? I've seen everything from 0.5" (for full sun areas) all the way up to 2.5".
> ...


C3 vs C4 grasses go through different photosynthetic cycles, this is why you may see literature that seems to be contradicting. Pay attention to the types of grasses being discussed. C3 grass = cool season and C4 = warm season.

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/Biology/phoc.html

http://www.plantphysiol.org/content/155/1/56

https://www.khanacademy.org/science/biology/photosynthesis-in-plants/photorespiration--c3-c4-cam-plants/a/c3-c4-and-cam-plants-agriculture


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## SCGrassMan (Dec 17, 2017)

bmw said:


> Another thing about mowing height, I got Allyn Hane's email the other day that stated the proper mowing height of Centipede is 3" or more, which I totally disagree with. In my opinion ,and many others it should be 1"-2". It likes to be lower. So, in other words, you will get differing opinions on this mowing height topic.


Can centipede even REACH 3"? 😂


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## Crabbychas (Apr 25, 2018)

SCGrassMan said:


> bmw said:
> 
> 
> > Another thing about mowing height, I got Allyn Hane's email the other day that stated the proper mowing height of Centipede is 3" or more, which I totally disagree with. In my opinion ,and many others it should be 1"-2". It likes to be lower. So, in other words, you will get differing opinions on this mowing height topic.
> ...


Maybe? We had a totally uncared for centipede lawn growing up (it looks the same as it did when we got the house 20 years ago) and I recall it getting pretty tall a couple times when no one had time to mow.


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## Jrich (Jul 9, 2018)

Paging @Greendoc


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## lambert (Sep 12, 2018)

I think 3 inches is too tall for centipede.


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## Greendoc (Mar 24, 2018)

Between 5/8" and 3/4 for Centipede. 1/4"-1/2 for Emerald Zoysia. In my area, not mowing low causes those grasses to become miserable thatchy messes.


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