Lawn S.O.S. dying patches / thinning/ weak

[SnowBro]

Lawn Care gurus, experts, and Jedi masters...

I am trying to identify what the issue(s) might be that is effecting my lawn in a number of different ways. I am a first time home buyer and doing my best to be self sufficient and active with my landscaping and lawn maintenance. I water my lawn on the scheduled water days to what I believe is a sufficient amount. I mow, trim, and perform general maintenance weekly.

For some time now (3-4 months) I have had 2-3 growing spots of browning, dying, and cracking areas of lawn. In most of the other areas of the lawn, the grass is green, but thinning significantly, weak, and what I assume short rooted. At the onset of these issues I tried to help the situation by using Turf builder and seeding, as well as upping the amount of time the lawn gets watered. As the issue continued to progress I aerated again, and again utilized turf builder. None of these things have seemed to have any effect and my lawn continues to digress. I have 2 small dogs, who do go to the bathroom on the lawn, however rarely go in the areas that are most effected, and the areas are so extreme that it would surprise me if they were the sole cause.

Any help, ideas, or suggestions are greatly appreciated.


Some background info:
Where: Northern Nevada, Reno
What type of grass: Blue Derby
Shade: Shaded and Sunned across all parts of the lawn throughout the day (depending on the time of course)
Age: I think the lawn was put in around 10-15 years ago.







Thank your for any time and assistance on this.

SnowBro

[HoneyBerry]

Lawn problems are not easy to fix with application of products. Sometimes you need to ammend the soil or replace the sod. If I were you and wanted a nice lawn, I'd try some good books on lawn care. Personally, I don't like lawn and am slowly replacing mine with plants and groundcovers.

[Sharky169]

Looks like several problems from photos but it's hard to say one looks like grubs one looks like fungus one looks like low pH. take a soil sample from several sections and bring to a agricultural department and they'll tell you what the soil is made up of and offer suggestions. if you water too much the roots don't go deep for water; water less frequently but more gallons per minute so the roots develop also call a fertilizer company and they'll tell you whats wrong you don't always have to buy their services but they usually know what's going on. PS Scott's is a waste of money Use Lesco cheaper and better