OK sounds like you have been maintaining your Empire Zoysia too high to start with because the recommended cutting height is 1 to 2 inches. So armed with that info cut no higher than 2 inches, and no lower than 1 inch with a rotary mower. Relax when you see it starting to green up apply some slow release urea 15-10-5 fertilizer at a rate 6 pounds of product per 1000/ft2. Be careful with Zoysia not to kill it with kindness by applying too much fertilizer. You only need two application per growing season. If you push too much fertilizer on it will cause excessive thatch problems which leads to insect, disease, and fungal problems all of which can kill the grass. With Zoysia it is a good idea to de-thatch your lawn once a year as it tends to be a heavy thatcher. The grass blades are very tough, and the clippings decay very slowly. Keep your mulch mower blades sharp so it chops up the clippings into little pieces. So keep your eye out for thatch.

If no one here is smart enough to grab your Freedom 42 deck, you should set up an ongoing search on Ebay to let you know when a 42C deck comes up, as they do. I bought one that was a trade to a JD dealer on a Freedom deck, with just about no marks anywhere underneath deck. I was the only bidder, and bought it for $75., plus freight from PA to Boston, which ran about $125 on a pallet. Now I've got teh best of all, a great mulching deck for most of teh year, and a side discharge (plus bagger that I bought separately) to take care of spring and fall clean-up, leaves, etc. Many seem to get along just with teh Freedom deck for leaves also, but in my case, picking them up is preferable. Also be aware that not all 42C decks have the same attachment mechanics - JD used the same designation for different applications that are not all interchangeable with your LT155 chassis.

Annie, I live in Woodbury. Easy to get to from 295. I work in CH so it's not that far.

Try soybean meal to speed up growth if you can find it for less than 15 dollars a bag. Cottonseed meal is a good one if it's cheap. Do it now to get ready for spring growth. Repeat 3 weeks prior average last freeze/frost next spring. May have to apply corn meal as well as preventative. I would not overseed as it can significantly slow down recovery next year.