Jackallenss, The author of the link is complaining about labelled bags of grass seed that don't specify what's in it. The purchaser has to read the contents carefully to know what they're getting. If the bag is labelled tall fescue, it will contain tall fescue. All the more reason to avoid something called 'contractors mix'. It's not clear what it contains. I think what you and Ibanez don't understand is pennington, scotts, etc... don't actualy produce grass seed. They buy it from seed farms and package it. They sell many different cultivar mixes, so you can't say their seed is good or bad, you can merely state that a particular cultivar that their bags contain may be good or bad. What they have in their bags tends to vary from year to year based on availibility and price. When I buy seed, I always read the label. While I haven't memorized the stats for every fescue seed, there are a few common ones that do well for me and I tend to buy them. For example, scotts uses wolfpack and tar heel. Both have done well for me in the past, so I'll look for them. I've had bad luck with rebels, so I avoid it.

Getting the leaves off has to be priority number 1. They are a bigger threat than the mower.

>How big of an area are you talking about?Rather small, actually. It's a small strip alongside the driveway, measuring something like 5' x 10'. >I'm going to go back to TW's first post and suggest that your friend should learn to love Bermuda.I suppose he could learn to love dandelions, oxalis and crabgrass as well, but that's really not an ideal suggestion for my fescue lawn or garden beds growing alongside it. I can't understand anyone who *chooses* to grow Bermuda grass. It's invasive to every other part of your landscape, ugly (compared to fescue anyway) and turns a lovely shade of brownish gray in the winter. :( Solarization sounds like the most effective choice, but lord, having a dead lawn next door for the next year hardly has me dancing for joy. But I appreciate the suggestions.

Earthworms need organic matter to exist, so if you do not have many or want to add more then you need to know what the amount of organic matter in your soil is since adding more will do not good if there is not enough there to support the population you already may have. Add more organic matter and the earthworms will be there.