I'm a big fan of rye grass now. My entire back yard is in the shade
almost 100% of the time, and rye grew in just beautifully. I simply
threw some down last fall. If you can prepare the dirt a little with a
tiller, that will help, but I didn't. I just waited for a rainy week
and threw a bunch of seed down. And I had a very recent turf only two
weeks later. It stayed green all winter (my grass only in the whole
neighborhood) and it's still growing great, although rye is supposed
to be annual. Even if I need to plant it every year, that will be fine
by me. It's only about $10 for a 25-lb bag. Two bags ($20) covered the
whole back yard (maybe 20yds x 30yds.) I got some from WalMart and
some from Lowes. The price was the same, but the grass from Lowes grew
much, much better. All plants and seeds I get from WalMart crap out
very quickly, so stay away from that. Get rye seed from someone else
and you'll be happy. I'm mixing in fescue with this rye right now,
mostly just for the hell of it. BTW, I live in North Texas. Rye grass
should grow even better for you up there in Oregon.