I live in the western mountains of Virginia and would like to make my lawn look better. I have a mixture of KBG and fescue. I tried to overseed my front yard (shaded) in the Fall but it seems to never gets thick enough. I plan on sending off a soil sample soon.

Any suggestions on what I should overseed with in both sunny and shaded areas?

Also, I can't seem to water the KBG enough in the summer and it just dies out. Would a fescue be more drought tolerant?

Also, when I overseed do I need to use a powered machine to seed or can I just use a hand spreader?

Also, can I sow a winter grass such as a rye to make the lawn look green or is that a waste of time?

Thanks