You are probably getting too little light for grass. A good groundcover might be better. Have you considered Mondo Grass? It's got great texture, is easily available as small "plugs" from garden centers, and needs no mowing or tidying up. It's not a true grass but looks like one and it can take shade and a little amount of traffic. RJ Here is a link that might be useful: Clemson Link on Mondo Grass

I'll see if I can strike through all the information in that last message that might apply in Canada but does not pertain to Florida turf. The information you have received has been good but I have to tell you a bit more. Going from a chemical dependent lawn to a healthy organic lawn takes time and work. But it is worth it. The chemicals and pesticides have killed the microbile life in the soil. It takes time to fix this. After looking at your lawn, I see your excess watering has created mold. Use a hard rake and rake everything off the dirt.Before you seed or sod go to a Organic shop and get some products and apply as directed. I would use some liquid seaweed, alfalfa and OM Booster. Don't use corn gluten if you are using seed as it stops seed germination. If using sod, don't let it dry out for the first week. But don't drown it either. Then water once a week, in the early morning for about 1 hour. Fertilize every 5 to 6 weeks with a quality fertilizer. Make sure NO urea or sewage or manure in fertilizer.I have a friend doing Organic in TN. If you need to know which products to use in the USA I can find out for you. Mow the lawn on a routine. Once every 7 days in the early morning or evening, never during the hot part of the day. Don't cut it short, never less than a 1.5 inches for the type of grass you are using. We use Kentucky bluegrass up here and it should be 2.5 inches long. Never cut more than 1/3 of the lenghth when you cut or the lawn may go into shock. When going from a chemical lawn to Organic, you won't see the best results until the 3rd year. The 1st year can look bad and the 2nd will be ok. But the 3rd should look great.Check out my web site www.globalorganicsolutions.ca and email me about anything and I will be glad to help you. If you use sod and after its been down for a couple days take a light roller and roll it to get the roots in contact with the soil.If you can do a soil test, its good to know the Ph. But you need to rake out all the moss and loose grass.I would take it back to bare soil.Good Luck Most of it does not apply because you won't be seeding. Most of the rest does not apply because you don't have mold. He almost got the part about the roller correct. Rolling needs to be done no later than immediately when you apply the sod, if you are going to apply sod. With St Aug you really don't have to unless you want to change the variety. When I converted from chemical to organic, it looked incredibly good in 3 weeks. It has never looked poorly since. My soil is mostly sand fill that I had brought in, so it is a lot like what you will encounter. I suppose it is possible it might take longer to see great results but I would start looking immediately.

I can't find lemon trees specifically listed as major players as far as allelopathy is concerned, so at least temporarily I'm going to table that. Almost all trees feature some level of effect, however. (If you'd been continental and told me that was a black walnut, for instance, we would have solved the problem in one go). Trees are famous for sucking up water, so check the soil underneath it to see if it's dry as compared to the rest of the lawn. Realizing that Hawai'i has some water issues at the moment, you may not be able to or wish to water. That's OK, we're just trying to nail down the issue. Combine water stress with lower light under a tree and that may be the solution. In that case, mulching under the tree might be the best idea, or use an approved ground cover that tolerates lower light and lower water levels. Traffic there doesn't concern me too much, one or two children at full tilt should be entirely tolerable. They're fine even on KBG, which isn't exactly what I'd describe as happy with traffic. Grasses don't generally spread if not fed, so I'd follow the recommended feeding schedule for your locale. If you can't find it, I'll do the research--but don't know or have a feel for it in that area since you're technically sub-tropical. Which means I won't technically know if the recommendations are the best for that grass (you'd be shocked how many articles and schedules recommend terrible feeding times up here). However, I should think that feeding is better than not in that climate, and seasonal temperature variance isn't that much. So I'd say a gentle feeding would be a good idea. You could get a soil test through Logan Labs (in Ohio), which would nail down any soil problems you have. But I'd investigate other avenues first as the rest of your lawn looks pretty good--and you did have grass under there previously.

In answer to reeljake, I agree about the erosion mat. I've already seen in some areas where the wood shavings are gone. Just eaten right up by the fungi. However, I did the same thing last year and had no problem. I used it because my property is literally the lowest point in the entire neighborhood. I am at the end of a cul de sac with a stream that is my back yard property line. So the yard gradually slopes from the street all the way back to the stream. Last year and this year with bringing in so much new soil I was very concerned with it washing out in the rain. With the heavy rain we had I am positive it would have. My neighbor had some erosion issues also and just filled in with dirt, threw some seed down and hay and with the first rain it all washed to the back of her yard. The mat did a great job of holding in the moisture as well. It's just that with all the rain it did that job a bit too well. With my terrible lack of knowledge concerning potential of fungus I wasn't recognizing the symptoms as they appeared. If I had been prepared and knew then what I know now I think I could have stopped it in its tracks. Oh well, need to look at it as a leaning experience and go forward. I appreciate everyone's comment's.