Question
Thank you For taking the time to read and answer my question.  I recently purchased sod (Tiffway).  It was over seeded with Rye for the winter.  It was a great dark green all winter as well.  Now that the summer is here (I live in Arizona) the grass is just green around the sprinklers patches everywhere of light green and dead yellow. What do I need to do to make all the Rye die off and the Tiffway to come in.  Also my main problem that I am having is believe it or not my grass in being taking over by house flies.  I take my dog out in the afternoon and he does his business I clean it up and we go in.  The past week as soon as he runs out into the yard there are HUNDREDS of the house flies just chillin' until he disturbs them.  I want them gone, but i don't want to harm my lawn, as I think they are already doing to it.  They don't seem to be in the area in which he goes #1 & 2 though.  I will do just about anything to get rid of these disgusting flying problems. I water my grass two times a day.  Right before the sun comes up and right as it is going down.  The sprinklers run for 8 minutes. Will lavender work on my yard?

Answer
Sounds like your fly problem is totally out of control.  I don't think Lavender is going to give you the results you want here -- problem is way too serious.  I would get out the flypaper and use it, and use it, and use it until it's used up and the flies are history.  This should realistically take only a few days.  Yes, a few DAYS.

How to make Flypaper:

www.ehow.com/how_2081792_make-flypaper.html?ref=fuel&utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=ssp&utm_campaign=yssp_art

Make your own, this way you won't worry about running out or using it all.  And it's cheaper, and just as effective.

Maggots can hatch in a few hours after the egg was laid.  They are probably out there hatching as we speak.

You'll have to curb the dog carefully of course until this problem is fixed.

Theoretically, Rye should die off on its own.  After all, they call it Winter Rye for a reason.  It dies in Summer.  It can't take a lot of heat.

But some things are easier said than done.  This is one of those things, at least, in Arizona.  Take Tucson Nat'l Golf Club.  They were less than pleased with the results of just this very Rye-Bermudagrass exercise, overplanting more than 7000 yards of Tifway 419 Bermudagrass and Penncross Bentgrass greens with Winter Rye.  Golfers demand a Green fairway year 'round.

This high-density Bermuda goes dormant all Winter with the first kiss of frost in November.  And it stays that way well into March.  Then it's back.  But Ryegrass, meanwhile, does not suddenly jump into the back seat because the Tifway is suddenly back one morning.  At Tucson National, they just felt that the transition from Rye to Bermuda was torture.  Golfers would walk across the green in mid-Summer and still be passing clumps of Winter Rye.  So they started looking for better mousetraps.  Which they felt they had when someone came up with Green Paint.  They tried many different color formulas, until they came upwith one they loved.  And they're very happy with it.

Just so you know.  This is not a solution that everyone is happy with.

That said, you might consider the advice of Phoenix Tropicals, which has suggested a few theories about the tough Tifway and Rye transition.  They point out that precisely because Tifway is a high density Grass, it is necessary to adjust mowing to make it more prominent in the competition:

'High density hybrids have to be kept shorter.  A less dense Grass can be mowed at 2 inches and will still look good, while high density Grass will have brown patches if allowed to grow this tall."  They note that the barren patches "are caused by the fact that the grass is so thick that the leaves are only at the ends of the stalks, forming a sort of canopy.  If allowed to grow taller than recommended all the leaves get scalped off during lawn mowing, leaving nothing but the brown stalks.  Less dense Grass has leaves that spread out over its height and can therefore be mowed at a variety of heights.'

They also point out, 'Grass that has to be kept under 1.5 inches high cannot be cut with a regular rotary mower.  A reel mower will need to be used instead.  Keeping the Grass this short requires more frequent mowing and also exposes the soil to more sun and heat, requiring more frequent watering.'

Now, going back to your fly problem, I would expect your local Birds would be enjoying the free dinners and breakfasts in your Lawn.  Have you been doing something to repel them?  If you make feathered friends, you will have far fewer Flies.  Which is nice because Flies are disease carriers par excellence.

Your followups welcome and thank you for writing,

THE LONG ISLAND GARDENER