So I've read the other posts about not overseeding with zoysia because it is a creeping grass and to just let it fill in bare spots but I just don't see that working well. Reason being is living in PA zoysia is a pretty bad grass to have. It was the lawn when we purchased the house and I don't want to remove it and start over (since our neighbor who did this 2 years ago already has lost a 1/3 of her lawn to my zoysia taking it over!).

The main problem with zoysia this far north is the amount of time it takes to start growing allows for quite a bit of weed problems in any area that isn't dense turf. I have started dethatching my yard with a power rake (6th level of hell?) and in some areas there was a lot of weeds that were pulled up leaving pretty bare areas. I'm concerned that if I don't have turf there now come spring it will readily get taken over by weeds while the zoysia is still in dormancy.

My neighbor with the same lawn composition has overseeded with a fescue mix the last 2 years and has a pretty nice lawn. It's mainly brown in the winter but you can clearly see fescue interspersed which keeps it thick and helps to shade out the weeds come spring before the zoysia takes over.

Can someone offer some options for me OTHER than just wait for the zoysia to fill in the bare spots, because I really don't feel its a viable option this far north.

And if you can recommend a seed blend for my yard that would be great (it gets almost full sun, but I do have a cherry blossom tree that shades about 1/3 of the yard for several hours a day).

Thanks in advance!