If I cut it so low that there are only stems left, and no leaves, will it come back in the spring?

The lawn was put in last year. It game in looking great. Very thick. But this year it seems like it is all stems. There are only blades of grass the last 1" or so. If I part the grass with my foot or hand, I can easily see the bare ground. It wasn't like this last year.

So I am wondering if I cut it down short, will it come back if there is nothing but stem left after I cut it? That is, if I do that when its dormant? Or will that kill it?

But, I think you're saying just wait 'til spring when it has come out of dormancy? And bring it down little by little?

I'm not so concerned about the height. It is fairly tall for Zoysia. I cut it at about 3 3/4 to 4", and bring it down to about 3". What concerns me, and the whole point of writing this, is how little of that overall 3" length is blades of grass, versus stem. It's a lot more stem this year, compared to last year.

I really appreciate you answering this TW, there aren't a lot of people on this forum knowledgeable about Zoysia.

Right there is a lot of your problem. That is way to high and yeah I would imagine it got leggy. What variety do you have?

fruitfarfla: All I wanted to know was a "yes" or "no" to "can it be cut when it is dormant, if I cut it so short there are no blades of grass left". The "answers" to my question were more questions. I already realized that the height was considered long, for Zoysia. My thought was to take advantage of winter dormancy - if that was possible without killing the grass.

Yes, the information on the links do say Zoysia should be kept shorter. That is was I was trying to correct.

Maintain current height for now until it goes dormant for winter rest.

Then next spring with you see signs it is starting to turn green, scalp it down to 1 inch and bag all the debris. I will warn you it will look like crap with nothing but stems and twigs.

As soon as you see it starting to recover and green up a bit after scalping, apply your first of 3 yearly fertilizer applications. Be sure to water the fertilizer in.

Then maintain the lawn at 1-1/2 to 2 inches with a rotary mower with a good sharp blade. Zoysia is a very tough grass and hard on lawn mower blades so keep the blade sharp. Otherwise you will just tear the grass and it will look brown on the tips and spoil the color, not to mention open it up for pest and disease issues. If you use a reel mower maintain at 3/4 to 1-1/2 inches with sharp blades.

Lastly fertilize only 3 times per season spaced 8 to 10 weeks apart. DO NOT over fertilize Zoysia.

Good luck and don't forget to check in next year and let us know how it went.