I currently mow at 3 1/2"

Take that puppy down to 2" ,-pick up the clippings, (continue at that height for the rest of fall)- aerate, and fertilize.

Why are you aerating? Is it because you read about it in the newspaper, a friend told you to do it, your pappy always did it, or because you have hard soil? Because over the years people here have found that not aerating gives about the same turf performance as aerating. If you have hard soil, then the best (fastest, most effective, longest lasting, and by far cheapest) way we've found to soften it is to spray with a surfactant like shampoo. Can you stick a screwdriver into your soil easily? Some people can't break the surface with a screwdriver and some can bury it with no effort.

it was recommended by my lawn service.

Basically I am at my wits end as far as trying to get my lawn to green up.

I live in a 38 home, 5 year old developement, all of the lawn were put in with the same soil.

The neighbors on either side of me have much nicer greener lawns than I.

One neighbor has irrigation the other doesn't.

I do and I apply 1" of water per week as recommended.

They both use local lawn services, although different companies and different than the one I use. Actually I am on my 2nd company hoping for better results.

I mow my lawn at 3 1/2".

My lawn is very thick, weed free; but lacks the green color of a nice lawn.

The lawn was de-thatched this past spring.

It looks like about 1/3 of the lawn is dead grass, it looks like straw.

Any help would be appreciated.

So you've nailed the watering and the mowing (as long as you aren't letting the lawn get longer than about 5" tall before mowing it).

Tell us about the feeding? An improperly fed lawn won't flourish. If the lawn care company is feeding it, do they use a granular (walking around with a whirlygig spreader) or spray?

Assuming that's OK, my next two steps are to tell you to look for grubs, and get a soil test, in that order.

Please see the attached photos.

The lawn service I use is a local contractor who I had for years at my last home and the lawn was like out of a magazine / golf course.

I do not have grubs, the ph was tested and it is fine.

The homes on each side of me have very nice lawns and all of the soil used on all of the yards was from the same pile of loam at was on the site when the building was done.

In the first photo my yard is the second lawn shown, it will pretty easy to see the difference the lawns and the second photo is a close up; it wll show the dead straw like grasses.

Thanks

Can you tell us when the last two times it was fertilized and what did you use?

On July 29 he applied 25-0-6 and on August 23rd 24-0-12. The grub prevention and fertilization was done early June.

I think I would try an iron supplement since all else looks right

>>On July 29 he applied 25-0-6 and on August 23rd 24-0-12. The grub prevention and fertilization was done early June.

Bingo. The August 23rd was close enough, but the July 29th one probably did the damage by burning the root systems. On the up side, the feeder roots weren't up at the time, so structural damage to the above-ground plant wasn't fatal.

I'd water regularly. We're actually also in the correct time period for feeding, so plan to feed at bag rate again on October first or so with something gentle, like Milorganite.

In this case, it'll also act as an iron addition (which I don't think will help, but won't hurt either).

This doesn't look like a fungal infection because it's too even and too limited to your lawn only. Bacterial problem and insect infestation, ditto.

In the future, the correct times to fertilize a northern lawn are Memorial Day, Labor Day, October 1 (optional), and when it stops growing but is still green. That last date varies by year and by location.

The lack of color and straw looking dead grasses has been a problem for a least the past three years.

Even in early spring.

I dethatched this past spring in hopes of removing some of the dead, straw looking grasses.

Have you been doing a consistent summer application of feeding during that period?

I would at least try dropping a $15 bag of ironite to see if that's the easy fix. Obviously you have plenty of other nutrition going down on the regular.

Yes there have been consistent summer fertilizations.

I was hoping to find out the reason why my lawn looks different from my neighbors.

For that matter there is a home three houses down that only does Scott's 4 step and her lawn is the best in the neighborhood.

I guess a bag of ironite could hurt at this point.

Thanks

I guess a bag of ironite could hurt at this point.

Should read " a bag of ironite could NOT hurt at this point.

Thanks

she may be using the Scotts green max as part of her 4-step

If same thing done 3 years in a row and you have same problem I recommend a change. Folks here don't recommend summer fertilizer, and the logic makes sense. How did you measure water output from your irrigation? What type of winterizer was put down and when?