Since you say you don't get any drying out periods, I'm going to assume you're nearer Vancouver than Kamloops.

The fescue you have is probably fine fescue and it does have the tendency to flop over when it gets too tall. You may need to lower your cutting height.

I don't know a lot about rye (or wet conditions) but I think you may need to mow shorter to let the soil dry a bit, as well. One of the reasons I mow high is to try to provide shade and keep moisture around, but you may have the opposite problem.

Thanks, bpgreen. Yes, I am in the Lower Mainland, so a lot more precipitation than the Kamloops area.

I'll lower the mower a notch and try it. I was mowing as high as I could to try to get the roots to establish as deeply as possible, since the soil isn't that great (clay). This fall will be my second year adding compost, so hopefully I'll see some improvement at some point.

Does anyone have any input on my other questions? Thanks (:

I should have answered some of the other questions also.

If you need to overseed in the fall, mow the grass as short as you can first. Assuming you want to keep the existing grass and just add some more because it isn't coming in very thick and is mostly bunch grass (you may have some creeping red fescue, but it spreads more slowly than KBG), you'll want to gradually lower the mower deck so that you don't stress the existing grass too much.

You may want to lower the height a little going into winter. I'm not really sure, but I think with the amount of rain you get, fungus can be a problem if it's kept too long.

You may be able to keep the poa from germinating if you can get a thick lawn. height may help a little because it can deprive the poa that does sprout from light, but the main thing is to get the lawn full of the grass you want so there isn't any bare dirt.

I don't know about the mower wheels pushing the grass down.

1. Many grasses, depending on circumstances, can flop over and be difficult to mow, especially if they are allowed to grow too tall. Mowing high is good but only you can determine what that height is with the grasses you have growing in the soil you have with the moisture levels you have. While we may well say "set your mower as high as you can" that should also be conditioned with and what your grass will allow you to do.
2. Many people will disagree with this but I do not think it necessary to overseed, ever, once your turf is established.
3. It is not necesary to cut the lawn any shorter for the winter than you did all summer. I do find that the leaves I mulch mow into the turf get shredded better if on the last pass I drop the mower deck one notch, however.
4. The tall grasses can keep annual ryegrass seeds from germinating if the turf is also fairly thick, which proper feeding and mowing will, eventually, do.
5. Raking grass can damage the crowns of the plants and is usually not a good idea at anytime. Mowing often can help and maybe your grass will need to be mown more than once a week, or you may need to look closely at the height and adjust that more for the grass you have.

thanks to both of you! I will have to overseed/reseed a few areas where I've pulled out some poa annua, but the rest of it is pretty lush right now. I just always seem to have a very thin yard come spring, so I thought I'd try to overseed in the fall and prevent some of that. I'm not sure why it thins -- if it is the constant moisture in a shadier area, or just that I've always had a yard full of Poa annua before and never noticed!

Thanks again.

"2. Many people will disagree with this but I do not think it necessary to overseed, ever, once your turf is established. "

I'm going to disagree with that because the OP has perennial rye and maybe fine fescue. Perennial rye is a bunch grass and so are all the fine fescues except for creeping red fescue. Unless there is enough creeping red fescue in the lawn, a lawn comprised of a mixture of perennial rye and fine fescue will likely need periodic overseeding.

When using a push reel mower it essential to cut often. If the grass gets too long the blades will push over the grass and not cut it properly. I too cut at the highest setting on my brill. In the spring and fall when it is cool it is ok to cut a bit shorter, it is in the summer when it is hot you want the lawn a bit longer to keep the roots cooler.

Definitely cut the grass before you overseed. That way the seed will get where it needs to be.

Keeping the grass long,will also keep the roots from getting thicker. When the root system is dense and thick that is what weill keep weed seeds and Poa annua from germinating. It takes a lot of work from the root system when the grass is long.

Fish emulsion fertilizer, like Neptune's Harvest is a fantastic organic fertilizer. A bit stinky, but works wonders.

I would mix some bluegrass or creeping red fescue in the turf as well as the fine fescue and perennial rye. it will have a darker color and grows by rhizomes so you will not have to constantly overseed.

Here is a link that might be useful: Neptune's Harvest Fish emulsion

"Keeping the grass long,will also keep the roots from getting thicker."

That contradicts nearly everything I've read about grass root growth. Do you have any links to articles I can read about that?

"I would mix some bluegrass or creeping red fescue in the turf as well as the fine fescue and perennial rye."

The OP is in the rainy part of BC. Bluegrass is a poor choice there because of disease susceptibility. Fine fescues include chewings fescue, hard fescue and creeping red fescue, so there may already be some creeping red fescue in the lawn. We just don't know if there is enough to keep the lawn full.

Keeping the grass long,will also keep the roots from getting thicker. When the root system is dense and thick that is what weill keep weed seeds and Poa annua from germinating.

What keeps seeds from germinating is allowing the seeds to dry out before they soften enough to germinate. If some seeds happen to germinate, what keeps them from taking root is shading them out with tall grass. Tall grass prevents the tiny seedlings from photosynthesizing. Thus the 2-pronged attack on weeds is proper watering and proper mowing.

It takes a lot of work from the root system when the grass is long.

Roots are fed from the grass blades and grass blades get nutrients from the roots. Tall grass has more chlorophyll and can photosynthesize more sugar than short grass. When you mow the grass short, the roots don't get/need as much sugar and they die off a little. Taller grass can grow deeper, more drought resistant roots. Those long roots can return plant food upwards fairly easily.