Question
Last summer we had some excavating work done in our yard.  The company put down some soil and some kind of grass seed.  The grass seems to have grown all winter (we live in the northeast) and it is a lot longer than the  regular seed that we put down.  It's a pretty color green but it's different.  A friend has called it contractor's mix and a local landscaping company calls it winter rye.  I don't know what it's called but I'd like to get rid of it.  Any suggestions?

Answer
It depends upon what you want to do.
If you want to establish another type of grass, then you will need to do some 'land preparation' - the tilling and raking of the soil to make it easy for roots to grow into. This by itself might be  enough to get rid of the unwanted material.If not you might want to use a product like 'glyphosate' (Roundup%#174;). If you decide to go this route, you want the existing vegetation to be actively growing. If it is not, mow it short and then water it to stimulate growth. Spray the chemical according to the label directions and allow 7 to 10 days for the product to get to all parts of the plant. Prepare the ground and sod over immediately.
If you are using seed, find out if you can use a pre-emergent weed killer. If there is one, then use it but follow the label meticulously because pre-emergent chemicals will affect all seeds equally.