I found zoysia too expensive and not that great of a grass as it is brown most of the year here. We spread No Mow Grass seed over the lawn a few years ago and every year it seems to be less mowing. They recommend taking out the old high maintenance grass before planting for fast low maintenance lawn within the year, but over seeding a lawn will also reduce the mowing as it takes over the lawn. It is exciting to think- one day, the lawn might only need a mowing in the spring and fall! Here is a link that might be useful: No Mow Grass

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Just a couple sidenotes that recently occurred to me: By kitty-corner, of course, I mean wheels that are diagonal to each other, so Front Left and Rear Right. Also, obviously this won't work with single-lever deck-height control. You know, that's the feature some mowers have that lets you change the deck's height with a single lever, instead of forcing you to change the deck's height by having to individually adjust each of 4 wheels. Last year I thought single-lever deck mowers were the cat's meow, but now that I stumbled upon mower wheel interpolating, give me 4 individually adjustable wheels anyday! So many more cutting heights to choose from! Lovez it! In my book, single-lever control is not a benefit (and high-end feature) anymore since it robs you of interpolating. Would you believe even Walmart this year has a mower with single-lever deck control. Saw it tonight. It's called the Brute (that's its brandname) and it has a Briggs And Stratton engine with rear-wheel transmission for $217. Also has a wide 22-inch cutting diameter. Didn't see the horsepower printed on the box, though. Last year, single-lever deck control cost you big bucks and was found only in high-end models, but like I said, single-lever deprives you of many height options. I'm not interested in it anymore. Lawn newbies may be wondering what the excitement is about a change in cutting height of 0.15 inches or 0.25 inches. It's counter-intuitive, but when it comes to grass, a small change in cutting height makes a big difference, even a quarter-inch (0.25). You can visibly see the difference between a lawn cut at 2 inches and the same lawn cut 0.25 inches lower or higher. The eye definitely picks up on the small quarter-inch change in cutting height, and even a 0.15 inch change.

I don't have three acres but a 3 year old home on 3/4 acres. I have an older JD-LT155 with a 38" mower deck. It has no problems with the slopes, in fact it surprised me when it was able to climb out of the ditch in the front yard. While there are many solutions to the mowing problem, there are other uses for a tractor. I would recommend a tractor either one like the LT-155, or one of the heavier ones. With three acres and your desire to make additional planting, you will appreciated the tractor with a trailer to move all of the tools, plants, seeds, mulch, fertilizer, and things yet to be discovered that those flower beds and new trees will need. Right now I am looking at putting a water tank in the trailer to water those new remote plantings. If you can afford two I would get a tractor and the zero turn.