There are no bentgrass putting greens in SoCal. They are all a hybrid sports variety of bermuda. Those lawns cost tens of thousands to prepare and about that to maintain. They are mowed every morning to keep them looking like that. Putting greens also have the distinct characteristic of being out in full sun. They do not have fences, buildings, trees or shrubs providing any shade at all. Do you need this grass to be real low to the ground? If it was 4 inches high and dense would that work? Where is the northern part of LA? Is that the the skid row area or further north toward Chinatown? Location in SoCal makes a huge difference. How hot is hot summers? Are you willing to water weekly? Is there any shade on the area?

tjski, I am going to do almost exactly the same thing to my lawn on Sept 9. I'm in the DC area so probably a little hotter here in terms of germination timing... Same situation, though. Complete reno last year... added about 3" of topsoil, reseeded the whole lawn... came in perfect! beautiful. lush, green, etc. Then the heat came and the fungus spread. Anyway, i lost about 1/4 to 1/3 of the fescue that had come in. I am going to do the following: 1. cut low. Really low. bag all that mess up. 2. rented seeder 3. run that in 2 passes 'dry' no seeds to churn up the dead crud and carve some good slits in the ground 4. run the mower w/ bagger over it all to pick up the stuff the slitseeder carved up. 5. either fill the seeder and go in two or three passes OR use my broadcast spreader and put seed down that way 6. roll w/ 1/2 full roller 7. water 3X per day 10AM 2PM and 4:30 PM until the fescue germinates So.... It looks like you have smililar plans. I'm no expert, but we seem to be thinking about the same. My only question, and one you might consider too, is whether or not to actually put the seed down with the slit seeder or just use it to carve the slits and then use the spreader to lay down the seeds. Then roll it in of course. Some experts might chime in on that one. Good luck!

A couple of questions first...did you have any creeping bentgrass in the yard 2 years ago? Did you purchase a custom blend seed mixture from a garden center, online, or contractor supply store? When you say Blue velvet..I am assuming that you mean Kentucky Bluegrass variety "velvet". THe only reason why I ask is there is a velvet bentgrass that is used in golf course putting greens. Off the top of my head, there are a couple of things that could have happened. 1. The seed mixture you bought was not blue tag certified. That means it was not weed free. Creeping bentgrass is a weed only by the fact that you don't want it. 2. Certain box type seed mixtures will prodominately display the 3 variety blend you mentioned but again there is probably additional seed listed or a % listed as weed seed. 3. It is possible that animals/birds could have possibly transferred live seed and deposited but...that is the least likely in this situation. So, getting rid of the creeping bent. Getting rid of cool season grasses within a stand of cool season grasses is tricky if not impossible by chemical means. The fastest way would be to use roundup on a sponge brush and dab the plant surface. Effectively killing the just the creeper. Waiting for the Kentucky to overtake is not going to yield the results you want...it will most likely spread. Get it now while you have the chance. Your cultural practices are sound for KB so that is not the cause of infestation. Hope that helps.

Bentgrass does not like the world at three inches. When you mow it down you might be creating false crown. Because it doesn't like much of anything over .5 inch mowing height the crown of the plant grows at a eleveted level. When the height is lowered you remove to much of the canopy. Unless you have a reel style mower you will never be able to maintain bentgrass. You are competing against roots under the tree in the front. Think about a landscape bed or running a trencher along one side of the tree