Hi All-

I recently bought a house which has a half-zoysia lawn. The other half is mostly KBG, with some fine fescues mixed into the shady areas. The yard is mostly sunny, with only two small areas of moderate shade.

I can't stand the zoysia, especially mixed with the cool-season grass. My zoysia area is the best-looking grass on the street from the 4th of July to Labor Day, but the dormancy begins in September, and isn't completely over until Memorial Day (or a bit later). I could live with the deep brown dormancy if it lasted from, say, Thanksgiving until early April, but I can't handle a yard that only looks good 2-3 months out of the year.

My plan it to kill the zoysia, and seed new cool-season grass. Although I prefer an organic approach, I might use Roundup for this, although I am willing to consider alternatives.

I would like to know what kind of seed is best for my local weather conditions, and my expectations for care and appearance. I'm located in southern Ohio.

1. For the past 20 years, we usually have had "Zone 6" weather. However, at any time we could revert to the norm and start having colder, "Zone 5" weather. I think the ideal grass would tolerate Zone 6 heat and Zone 5 cold.

2. The current fashion is for people to plant TTTF, as it tends to stay green deeper into a hot, dry summer. However, a few years ago at my old house, I had some TTTF die during a relentless drought, while my KBG returned from deep dormancy. Winters here haven't been cold enough to kill TTTF since the mid-80s.

3. I understand that TTTF may have lower fertilization requirements, and be more disease resistant, than KBG.

4. However, I am greatly attracted to the turf-forming abilities of KBG. Are there any specific cultivars that I should consider, or is plain Kenblue best for my situation?

5. I do not plan to water the yard after it is established-it's a hard task with 2/3 acre. I would like to limit fertilizing to two heavy application per year, max- such as early September and late November.

6. I am interested in an old-fashioned KBG-white Dutch clover mix. This might improve the drought and disease resistance of the lawn, allow for a lower mowing height, and reduce fertilizer requirements. I am also interested in the new Microclover product of DLF (www.microclover.com), in lieu of white Dutch.

Can anyone help me with this? Thanks in advance for your responses.