You are just coming out of a long winter and so grass does tend to look awful at the start of the year. I doubt this has to do with kind of grass that's been laid. It's not the gardiners fault. You have an issue with animals - I can't understand why squirrels or cats would need to dig there. I might suspect a raccoon because they are normally after beetle grubs which come to the surface around thsi time of the year. They tend to rip open grass to reach to this areas. Squirrels normally dig to get to their hidden nuts or to get at tulip bulbs. Cats dig because they need to do their business there. Crows just stick in their beaks to grab the worms. So my thoughts are -- raccoons are doing this. If you pull up a section of your grass and see grubs, that's what's causing the grass to have patches and for holes dug by raccoons. You will definitely see lines along where the tiles of sod meet. I suspect you put down the grass just before fall and before the grass managed to meld into each other. Heres a simple remedy, --detaching - that is scratching the grass to remove the dead grass. Deal with the grubs - in Ontario we can no longer use insecticides. Perhaps in Montreal it's different. Barring insecticides, the organic way is using nematodes (a microscopic worm which attacks grubs and are available at garden centres). Next add good top soil, (if you have a large area to cover, it's cheaper to get them by the truckload. - Next spread it thinly all over the yard like you are icing a cake. I like using the back of my rake to do this job. Next spread new grass seeds. I do this every 2 weeks to ensure the gaps I've missed are covered. New grass will germinate in about 2 weeks and in no time you willhave a great looking yard again. Hope it works.

Hi busy b, I have a whole lawn of common bermudagrass (no choice, long story) and can give you all the horror stories. :) I'm finally resigning myself to the fact that a lawn in my part of North Carolina will never be like the Kentucky bluegrass that I grew up with or the tall fescue lawn we had in Pennsylvania. But I LOVE gardening in North Carolina. You're right in that simply pulling it will make a dent. You have to get every little piece with a node on it. The roots and stolons can be VERY deep in the soil. I've had to clear out beds and start over again killing bermudagrass when I've been too impatient to wait and see that it was all killed before I planted. It's impossible to disentangle it from perennial, shrub or tree roots. I created many of my beds by layering newspaper/cardboard over the grass for a few weeks to kill the grass, but bermudagrass will grow right up through it. I think you're on the right track by keeping it away from the borders. I try to leave a foot or so around each bed border without plantings so I have some leeway and a chance to get all the stolons out before it creeps into herbaceous plant roots. I have sandy soil, but in sturdier soil, you can dig a little trench around the bed border to separate lawn from the bed and it helps you to see what's happening with the invasive grass. If you're not adverse to using Roundup, it works well. I've had to resort to that in some places. Hope this helps! Pam

Grass B Gone will kill moss. I tried it a few years ago as I know Round Up (glyphosate) is effective in killing weeds in moss, but that seems to be the ONLY thing that will work without hurting the moss. After the Grass B Gone, which I only tried on a small spot, it was a year or so before the moss came back to fill in the dead patch.You can use Round Up, spraying lightly so as to not get too much on the moss itself, (which may turn temporarily yellow) but make sure it is just plain Round Up and not one that is enhanced with another herbicide. Here is a link that might be useful: Welcome to Chaos

I love your plan kitchen. If the counters look half as nice IRL, you will be very happy! I love how you maximized the view for the table. We chose to put our table by the windows and have the work area further inside and are glad for it.