You are right - the fastest way to convert to Bluegrass is by killing the existing vegetation. It may take multiple growing seasons (years) for the Bluegrass to become the majority of the lawn if you don't.

If you MUST keep the existing lawn, severe power raking, aerating, low mowing and high seeding rates will give you you're best bet. I would assume high fertilizer rates would favor Bluegrass because fine fescue doesn't like high nitrogen.

Well, i suppose i don't HAVE to keep the lawn, I just know it would drive me nuts (Although truthfully, keeping the darn fine fescue going each summer is stressful). If I were to nuke the lawn, what are the steps?

Any suggestions for which KBG grass type? I was thinking an aggressive type would be good like NorthStar. In various redone sections of my backyard I've used just the standard mix from Agway and seems to work well, spread nicely, etc., but I don't know KBG type they use.

Midnight II
Prosperity
Brilliant

Equal parts by weight
3-4 (no more) pounds/1000
Mow this lawn at about 2.5 inches. Higher if you wish.

You can purchase these from Roselawn Agriseed
503-651-2130 ask for John

1. Get a soil test. Call your nearest county extension service for a test kit and sampling details. It will likely take two weeks for results. If you need to apply sulfur, lime, or any other amendment per test recommendation (that is not applied in Step 6), you can do it after seeding if you don't get results back in time.

2. Apply that "R" word stuff and again one week later. You can seed the lawn one week after the second app.

3. Scalp it down

4. Rake it up

5. Core aerate

6. Fertilize

7. Sow seeds (slit seeding is preferred)

8. Topdress 1/4 inch layer compost, peat moss, or clean straw (weed-free).

9.
water 15-20 minutes twice a day for two weeks
water 20-30 minutes once a day for one week
water 30-45 minutes once a day every other day for one week
water 30-45 minutes once a day twice a week for one week
move into deep irrigation, increasing the time to provide 1 inch of water all over and decreasing the frequency to just once a week.

Starting off, the schedule supplies roughly 1/4 inch of water, then increases that amount while decreasing frequency of application at the same time. Like practically everything that concerns lawn care, this schedule is a general guideline and should be modified to accomodate your specific conditions. The lengths of time should be modified if you have an automatic sprinkler system since that will not take as long to provide adequate moisture. So, decrease amount of water (time) but maintain frequency as is. The tuna cans test is recommended. If it is still especially warm, you may want to irrigate 3 times a day (10-15 minutes if necessary) for that first couple weeks. Your objective is to keep the upper 1 inch of soil moist and not let the seeds dry out.

Baby the grass for the rest of year. Once the seeds begin to germinate, don't walk on it if at all possible.

Both core aerating and slit seeding are suggested, but you don't want to do both. My suggestion is to slit seed (1/4 inch deep) for optimum success. I only say that because you can cheat on aerating with Nitron.