No, you're in S. Lyon, and I'm in Flint. Give or take thirty miles, we're neighbors. I was in Howell yesterday. 1. Put down some fertilizer (just fertilizer, not w/ weed killer) as apparently you have not, lately. 2. You can buy some KBG seed, from Lowes or HD, and spread it around. Spring is fine, here in Michigan, where same would not be fine, if we lived in Kentucky or Virginia. Or even southern Ohio. 3. Go get some liquid bug killer, and plan on mixing it according to directions, with your hose end sprayer, in three weeks, or on Memorial Day weekend. Or, in the alternative (you're not going to do both), go buy some Grub X, but you're not going to spread it until Mem Day weekend. That should be enough for you to do, for now. The fertilizer is most important (your grass couldn't even recover from a bad rumor, much less bugs or disease), and the seed will grow, as all seeds do, if you keep them moist, and they have a well fertilized place to grow. That sod you put down has spent its entire life being coddled and cared for. It sprouted, because it was moist, it was fed (with Milorganite, from Lowes) every three weeks, a light application, but no application was missed. The food was regular, every three weeks. A light-nitrogen shot, like Milorganite. Then that sod took a turn for the worse: it got delivered to your house. No more regular feeding (which is most important: you already know that KBG is a 'heavy feeder'), and I'll bet you mowed it short, too. Fortunately, this can be fixed. Get started, and keep us advised.

Wow, I was surprised to see this thread still alive. Here's the recap on what happened last year: The 2007 June-July-August heat and drought combined with a vacation basically killed the TTPR after it had been fantastic in the fall and spring, so when I was deciding whether to repeat the experiment by overseeding (really starting over) in year 2, I decided to change to the more drought/heat tolerant TTTF and try to find some cultivars with a thinner blade and dark green color. Of course, this spring of 2008 has been plenty wet and not too hot thus far, so any cool season grass would likely be doing very well at the moment, as is the TTTF. I will try to post some pictures soon. It has been filling in nicely, but is still clearly in year 1. It has a lot of maturing to do. One thing for certain, the TTPR grew MUCH faster that the current TTTF - I sure do not miss the cutting 3-times a week I had to do last spring. I now have the annual weeds under control and my current plan is to aerate and overseed again at labor day with some more TTTF. Last summer demonstrated that TTPR in the transition zone is water dependent, which made it a high-maintenance, and generally poor chooice for the drought last summer.

I was going to slit seed to thicken the lawn up in a few places. Whatever seed you use, you want to do the whole lawn and not just a few places. I just wanted to stipulate that thought it's probably what you're already planning to do. Excellent details, Chris, but ditto what Turf Toes said. You simply are not going to find premium seeds in store-bought packages. Plus, I have never understood Scott's at all. They've poured millions of dollars into seed research only to mass market junk. I have no idea why they purchased Turf-Seed and really hate that they did. The numbers mean they are new varieties that have been submitted for testing. They won't be named until it is determined they will be a viable competitor. They are not yet ready for market and therefore not available for purchase just as you thought. Most new ones are tested 2-5 years before they are named and are available. Concerning your lawn and what seed to use, I will give my purely subjective :) view and some technical to consider. I absolutely hate mixing bluegrass with ryegrass and really don't like it with the fescues either. The only reasons for doing it that I can see are for utility purposes, such as simply to have a creeping variety for filling in when the bunch types thin out. The fact is, you should overseed regularly - every 2-3 years after good establishment - for several reasons. That applies to every lawn no matter the species and would negate that utility purpose altogether. When it comes to pre-mixes, they are often poorly comprised of varieties that do not compliment each other as far as growth habit, genetic color, etc., and selecting varieties among 2 or 3 species poses the same problem. Generally, someone who is familiar with all the species can share their results and varieties they selected, but it otherwise becomes quite the guessing game. Something else to consider is the varieties that were used. Had you told me the lawn is older or has been the same lawn for many years, I would know immediately it is nothing like the ones sold today and could give you a conclusive answer. But, you say it's only three years old, so I don't know if what you have are fairly recent developments or rather long-standing varieties still sold today that are not compatible. One factor is most recent varieties of rye, kbg, and the fescue boast dwarf growth habit, which means they are low/slow growing. They don't have to be mowed as high and they don't have to be mowed as often. Imagine mixing them in with a lawn composed of long-standing varieties that grow faster and taller. What you end up with is uneven, spikey growth between mowings that compromises quality and appearance since obviously you don't want to have to mow the lawn every 3 or 4 days. Ryegrass has been found to express an allelopathic chemical that stunts/reduces/inhibits the growth of bluegrass, so that is something else to think about. One other thing is a lawn seeded over time with kbg into an existing lawn of ryegrass and/or fescue in effort to convert it will eventually make the bunch types look like weeds (an eyesore) once the kbg becomes dominant. Counter-productive in my opinion. My suggestion is to get rid of the lawn you have and start over with a blend of cultivars of whatever species you prefer. They are all perfectly capable of thriving as a mono-culture. My opinion in this regard is both personal and analytical, but you have to decide what is right for your lawn and your growing conditions based on what you want to achieve. For example, shade may be an issue, how much shade, whether there is a disease prevalent in your area, if there are imposed water restrictions, etc. Good luck and I hope I helped a little.

I don't know that seashore paspalum is more aggressive since there are articles published by uga discussion bermuda supression in it but it can be used for greens and fairways and roughs, it's a multi-purpose grass. And no, I didn't mean annual rye. That stuff is ugly as you know what. I meant perennial rye as in, not meant to die. The test area is a good idea but I think you really can't go wrong removing your bermuda in place of something more ecologically friendly. I presume OP is in the upstate of SC. A bag of proven tall fescue varieties is Easy to get, easier to get going and a lot cheaper. Or perhaps you can get teh thermal blue/tttf blends that are available in big boxmart and super boxmart. There was someone who posted here last year that was in Ridgeway SC that had been using KBG with success and I can guarantee you that is one toasy, muggy area during the warm season.