I've read thru all the threads I could readily find, but I still have a few questions for my particular area. I apologize in advance if these questions have already been answered. (If so, please direct me to the correct thread.)

I live in Virginia in what is called the Valley/Ridge section (zone 7, but close to zone 6) zip - 24450.

General Information:

We have a new construction with about 15,000 sq ft surrounding the house that needs to be seeded.

We have clay soil. Soil test showed we need lime and fertilizer, which we will do.

We have straw matting to cover the seed and manual lawn sprinklers to help get the lawn established.

We have warm, humid summers (80-90 degrees) and cold winters (normally low 20's, but last year we had record single digits). We get snow that can stay on the grass for 5-10 days at the most, but it usually melts in a couple days.

All sides of the house get more than 4 hours of sun - the back gets it all day. The front gets some shade in the winter.

We are willing to do some maintenance as far a fertilizer and mowing, however we don't care if the lawn goes dormant (brown) in the summer.

We have well water so water cost is not an issue. We are in a farming community though and none of the neighbors water their lawns - they rely on rainfall, which we plan to do as well (once the lawn is established).

Problem:

We need to get the seed on the ground asap and we are getting multiple recommendations from local garden centers, extension agents and turf suppliers. All say that TTTF, KBG and PR do great in our area. The problem is the mixes and the maintenance of each type.

In general, people are recommending TTTF. My neighbors have KBG. We like the looks of the their lawns and they say it's low maintenance (mowing rate dependant on rain, they never water it and it doesn't spread to unwanted areas). Note that their lawn has been there since 1979. This sounds good to DH since he doesn't necessarily want to mow the lawn every week.

Our Questions:

If we go the TTTF route, we are concerned that it could "spread" into our pastures where we have livestock, which already has an overgrowth of Kentucky 31 that we are trying to dilute with other grasses (endophyte toxicity issues). Does TTTF spread at all like Kentucky 31 does?

How often in reality does TTTF need to be re-seeded? Locals are stating yearly at 5-7 lbs/1,000 sq ft. This can get pretty costly! In addition they say we have to core/airate at the same time. Is this a normal step or is this recommendation due to our clay soil and natural compaction?

Will KBG need to be cored/airated as well?

Some GW threads mention the maintenance issues of KBG, but really didn't say what those issues are. Does this mean more watering, more mowing, thatching? Does it spread to the point that it is a pain and needs to be trimmed to keep it from spreading into flower beds, driveways, etc?

We know we need to fertilize due to our soil, but is there a large difference in how to fertilize TTTF vs KBG?

How long does it take to establish a TTTF or a KBG lawn?

We love Auteck's lawn, but DH doesn't want to be manicuring it daily. Not sure if Auteck is still a visitor, but if so, how much maintenance do you do? What is your exact blend of KBG/PR?

When it comes to mixes, we are getting different signals on PR vs AR. Since we need to stabilize the soil, I understand the need to have something come up quickly, but I don't want the Rye grass to cause a problem later. In 2012, "tiemco" stated that PR could crowd out the KBG unless it's mowed 2-3 times a week until the KBG is established. This won't be doable. Would AR be better in that it will die out, or would that need to be mowed often as well during the first season while KBG is getting established?

With mixes that contain all three (TTTF, KBG, PR) can you see the different colors when mature? When it starts to go dormant, will it turn spotty? Since we probably won't actively water in the summer, will the PR just die out anyway, so AR is better?

We have a limited amount of blends available to us from our local coops and Turf companies (tri-blend TTTF and 90%TTTF/10%KBG). The garden centers sell mostly Scott, which I read we should avoid. Our coops will mix seeds for us, but they seem to have generic or cultivars that I can't find anything about. We did find the following mixes, but we aren't sure if these are old cultivars. Any opinions?

Wetsel Park Sunny Mixture - $150 for 50 lbs.:

24.50% Stellar GL Perennial Ryegrass
24.50% Slugger Perennial Ryegrass
19.75% Navigator II Creeping Red Fescue
14.50% Royce Kentucky Bluegrass
9.75% Blue Note Kentucky Bluegrass

Wetsel Class Act II - $101 for 50 lbs.:

19.5% Spyder LS Tall Fescue
19.5% Sidewinder Tall Fescue
19.5% Honky Tonk Tall Fescue
19.5% Turnberry Tall Fescue
14.5% Firecracker LS Tall Fescue

Do you have any recommendation for mixes of cultivars for either TTTF or KBG or a mixture of both/either?

Are Williams Lawn Seed, Pawnee Buttes Seed and The Hogan Company still good sources? Do they make custom mixes?

I realize we have a lot of questions, so thank you in advance for your any help you can provide!