Texas Weed wrote: "Zoysia is a lower input grass than Bermuda or Fescue." In its native climate it might be, but certainly NOT in the transition zone. "Only needs mowed once every 7 to 10 days because it grows much slower." This is incorrect if you follow the 1/3 rule. It is recommended that Zoysia be cut at 1 1/2 inches and with a reel mower, which most if not nearly all homeowners do not have. At that height and with ideal summer conditions, Zoysia will easely grow 1 inch in 1 week or more. "Very drought tolerant and only needs 1/3 the water of Fescue requires to keep it alive and green during the hot summer." This is the biggest misconception out there. At the recommended mowing height of 1 1/2 inches, soil moisture will be depleted MUCH faster than a Fescue lawn cut at 4 inches high; the recommended height. "If you use a good cold tolerant variety like Meyers (Z-52) you should have a green lawn from April to October in your area." Get real! Meyers is a 50 year old variety that it's prone heavy THATCH and disease; and takes forever to recover from damage. Most Zoysia grasses here are always "under construction" despite good irrigation and fertilization schedules. The only good looking Zoysias here are at the Golf Course; where it can be pampered and maintained by professionals and virtually unlimited budgets. There's no real benefit to replace Tall Fescue with Zoysia, especially if you already have irrigation. If you don't like Fescue and have irrigation, then you could try Kentucky Bluegrass; which will stay green year round in your climate, create a dense turf, and spread via rhizomes just like Zoysia - not to mention it is actually dark green vs bright green Zoysia. Recommending Zoysia as a home lawn in the Transition zone is like recommending Bentgrass in the North. Some Zoysia varieties produce one of the nicest turfs of the warm season grasses if not the nicest in my opinion, but under the proper management and climate.

Cats, there are very few things that can stop Bermuda like very cold weather, shade, and Round Up. There are some chemical suppressors on the market but they are expensive. A couple of more thoughts that crepe myrtle brought to mind. Plant crepe myrtyle of some other type of shade plant like trees along the street. The shade will cool the area and allow fescue to grow. To grow Bermuda, you will really need a barrier of some kind to contain it like a side walk or a shade barrier it cannot cross. Well almost because if you use a common seeded variety where the seeds are fertile, the wind will breech the barrier and carry the seeds. Sorry I am running out of ideas for you. Zoysia is another choice, but it is like Bermuda, it spreads and is aggressive, just on a slower time table. Here is the real problem with the idea of using Bermuda or even Zoysia. They have completely different maintenance schedules and look nothing like Fescue or the cool season grasses. Bermuda or Zoysia will stick out like a transvestite in a Texas Cowboy bar. Once one of those queers shows up, more will follow and you have to find another beer joint, or convert. :>)

What kidhorn said is probably right. If you think you have hard soil and are not getting good penetration, then spraying with shampoo will help. The rate is 3 ounces per 1,000 square feet using any clear shampoo. Find something on sale. I found Vo5 on sail for a dollar. Spray the shampoo, follow up with an inch of irrigation (or rain), and repeat in 2 weeks. That should work for at least a year as long as it gets some sort of moisture fairly regularly.

Most around here, including me, will try to encourage people to avoid "scotts" grass seed mixes. They are far from being good by any means. I was trying to find the % of the Sun & Shade you quoted and all I could find is this.. "Scotts Select Turf "Sun and Shade" (50% Boreal creeping red fescue, 35% Ragnar II perennial ryegrass, 15% Alene Kentucky bluegrass). Boreal is a fancy name for common creeping red fescue. Although it is adapted to shady growing conditions, Boral has none of the bred-in advantages of improved fine fescue varieties. Ragnar II, like all perennial ryegrasses, has no shade tolerance. Alene is a common type bluegrass that ranks at the bottom of the NTEP trials." A further explanation of my statement above. 6-8 hours of sun is the standard for "Full sun", against the misconception of full sun truly being sun all day long. You could really use any of the three cool season grasses and do not need the fine fescues. However, like I said before, any of the newer varieties are not going to visually blend well if you have an old wide blade fescue. ..I also didn't mention the different growing rates if you are to put a KBG or RYE on the fescue. A few days after cutting, it will look uneven. Ultimately the best thing to do would be to kill of the whole thing and start over (assuming you do have an old course tall fescue), but if your really against that, I'd say to overseed it with a turf type fescue. Go to a local garden center for better seed.