Question
I have a 12,000 square foot lawn that was overseeded with Kentucky 31 tall fescue seed 3 summers ago. The results of the overseeding were terrible. The Kentucky 31 is a lot lighter in color than the rye/fescue blend that was on the lawn. The Kentucky 31 grows much faster, a different color, and really stands out. I live in Cincinnati Ohio where there has been a very dry summer.    My lawn is 慴urnt-up?all over because I planned on killing the entire lawn this fall, and reseeding, thus I didn抰 water all summer. Everything on my lawn is toast except for the Kentucky 31. It is green and growing. My plan was to kill everything with round-up, power rake, and slit seed the lawn this fall. However, with the dry summer I don抰 know how effective I would be at getting all the Kentucky 31 out of my lawn. Any advice is appreciated.

Answer
Dave:

I am somewhat confused about the fescues.  KY31 is a standard seed sold for lawns, and may be the only one available.  There is a new cross with a rye which is now being sold.  It may have the characteristics you describe.

KY31 should be easy to cleanse.  It does not easily seed if mowed regularly.  It does not spread by stolon or rhizome.  Go ahead with your plans to use Roundup, but wait for some rain to do it.

With the raking, you will, in essence, be installing a new lawn.  This is, probably, most effective.

Have you given up on bluegrass?  I ask because you are dissatisfied with the KY31 color and the new variety is the only one available.

Best wishes.