Dear SusanB Thank you very much for your inquiry. I do not want to confuse this establishment issue and perhaps I was not very clear. The straw mulch you will here people refer to is used when you establish grass from seed, not sprigs or sod. I use the word straw because I do not want anyone to use alfalfa hay as their mulch source. I hope this helps clear up any confusion. Again, thanks for the question and let me know if you have more. Respectfully Trey Rogers The Yard Doctor

Remember what wants to be here is trees. Lots and lots of really big trees. With very few exceptions, any where left untended for a while is going to turn back into jungle. By far the easiest, most efficient way of beating back that jungle is by lawnmower. The other choices are herbicide, which I assume is a non-starter, and hand weeding, which takes a lot more time. So the further you get away from a mowed lawn, the more difficult the maintenance becomes. This is an enormous reason that lawns are so ubiquitous. They are easy. It does sound like there are places grass is going to be difficult because of the shade. Those places are going to be tricky because shade groundcovers aren't good for playing on. Either they can't stand the traffic, they trip people with vines, or both. Bark mulch might be a good solution for now, though it will have to either be weeded occasionally, or mowed. Weeds are less exuberant in shade, so hand weeding isn't as taxing as it can be in a sun bed. In the sun, overseeding with white Dutch clover won't hurt, but you will still be doing normal mowing. There really isn't a good way around that. One thing I have noticed, is that people who do not want to be identified with Lawn Warriors tend to significantly underpower their mowers, making lawnmowing a harder and more time consuming job than it needs to be.

It won't work, no, as the blades are now bent. Time and growth will stand them back up. By cutting, you've sent the signal to divide the blade, which will develop the stem. Over time, they'll start to stand up much better.

Is this KBG grass? No need to do anything if so as it spreads quickly. Otherwise maybe wait till fall to spot seed as needed. Could just be some stray animal pee. Your photos, while great in the shade, are still a good 12" too far away. You need to get maybe 4" away from the blades at the edge of the brown spot. Having said that, I copied and enlarged your image. I see some yellowing from the tip down about a half inch on several of the blades at the border, but nothing like pics of fungus I've seen online (please be aware I don't know much about fungus ID). Most of the grass just beyond the edge of the brown patch looks very healthy with no sign of fungus as much as my untrained eye from too far away can tell, so maybe it is an isolated incident. I would just keep an eye on it, but you seriously need to do something about your watering schedule.