a secondary thought....

If i wasnt to kill off the existing lawn, and put down a nice 75% KBG/ 25% Rye blend as an OVERSEED, would the KBG survive? i understand it takes quite a bit longer to come up.....

Please, Please Do not use Rye in your mixture. Rye does not look good in a KBG lawn. Overseeding with that mixture will not give you much new living KBG. Unfortunately the rye will outcompete the KBG. Regarding Roundup, any generic Glyosphate will do. Vegatation must be growing to be killed. Fertilize and water your old weedy lawn before using Glyosphate. After it turns brown, rake it up and then plant new. Bill Hill

I think your second post was that 5% talking. It wasn't you, was it LOL? I can understand your trepidation, but I hope you'll reconsider your second post. Nothing beats a failure but a try and no sense not trying. Many here have done it though they began with the same sense of doubt. You won't be the first to succeed :)

You can follow the steps outlined here, of course with the exception of the seed recommendations. Please do take what Bill Hill says into consideration though.

I WANT TO BE THE GUY EVERYONE ENVYs!!!

I already was. Now I want to be the guy where people stand at the curb and drool (hey, it's extra, free irrigation and salivary amylase is good for soil water penetration).

25% Rye blend

Unfortunately, that will preclude being the guy everybody envies. At the absolute outside, use 10% Rye. Better still, use none at all. Alleopathy...er, well, rye just keeps anything from growing around it.

So, ive decided on my seed, i wont get into the seed or where it comes from because I've seen some of these threads get pretty nasty. its from Lesco and its a KBG so I feel confident.

You will be fine, I'm sure. I managed a good lawn on Abbey bluegrass (read Scott's Cultivar du Jour). It was the best in the neighborhood, but not what I'd consider a showstopper. I'm using the Magnificent 3 (Midnight II, Moonlight, and Bedazzled). You may prefer something else. Yes, discussions get heated, but everybody has a preference (the guy down the street is putting in light green cultivars 'cause that's what he likes. Cool).

I used Roundup (OK, cheap glyphosate, same thing) twice, five days apart, applied at bottle rate Down went the lawn, but I'd been irrigating and organically feeding so it was awake and growing fast. I saw a change on day 1. By day 7 it was dry straw.

The photo progression is on my photo page if you want to see the old lawn and what die-out looks like.

I did not rake. That was a partial mistake...but not as complete as I thought. A lot of that is suddenly deciding to grow in the damper conditions we're having, even at 95 degrees plus. The weather breaks Friday. Either that or I'm having a stroke and seeing things. One or the other.

Rake. Or dethatch heavily, in each direction, and mow and bag it. I dethatched last weekend after figuring I failed, and it did a great job, plus I set the dethatcher to dig 1/4" deep furrows. Fifteen bags later (one every 500 square feet after a month of rotting that already took a lot of it) I was done.

Reseeding will be shortly--maybe, if I need it. There I'll scratch the surface with my rake (or reborrow the dethatcher), clean it off, seed, reverse the rake, and work it in a bit. I'm certain to need to do that in spots.

With elite KBG, germination ranges from 7 days (a few cultivars I saw, like Blue Velvet) to 21 (far more likely). Thirty days won't surprise me. I'll be irrigating (and still am since I'm not sure what's happening here) four times daily for five minutes each with an irrigation system. It keeps the surface constantly damp, but not squishy.

Finally, I'm lacking confidence. I want my lawn to be deep, dark and dense by late spring. Have I not left myself enough time? would it be worth it to do it this year? i dont want to look like the neighborhood jackass. So, if anyone could lend me some confidence I think i'll do it....i'm 95% there, just doubting myself that I'll ruin current lawn and never regain the state I had by next year :(

Your timing is good! August 15 is a great date, so you should have a pretty established lawn by October 15 when it starts to go into fall mode and slow growth (but grow roots like mad).

Do it, do it, do it! The timing doesn't get much better than this. Even if dieout takes a full two weeks, you're in excellent time.

That gives your lawn (assuming southern NY) September through November to grow and develop root systems, plus late March through late May before the weather starts to get spottily hot.

Will it be perfect? Nope. Not next year. But it could be pretty durned nice if you take care of it and feed regularly. Perfect will have to wait until the first of never...there's always a small hole or a large weed somewhere. :-)