It is bermuda, either TIF 419 or Celebration. The reason it is not doing well in the shade is that it requires 6 hours of full sun to do well. If you see it thinning over most of the lawn, you may as well get started now with St Augustine. St Aug will grow with 6 hours of filtered sunlight and still look okay. In full sun it is very dense, but tolerates shade to a great extent.

Do not overseed it with rye. I know many people in your area do that, but the result in the spring is that the bermuda revival is delayed by weeks and sometimes months. It can affect the turf for the rest of the season.

Bermuda should have the following care:

• Water deeply and infrequently. See more below.

• Mulch mow at the mower's lowest setting. If the lowest setting scalps the lawn into circles, then you have leveling issues. Mowing 2x per week can be necessary to keep it down.

• Fertilize monthly throughout the growing season with a high N, low to zero P and K, fertilizer.

• Spot spray weeds in April and September.

• Spray for insects as necessary and not in anticipation of problems.

• Spray for disease almost never. Bermuda is very disease resistant.

Watering: Deep and infrequent is the mantra for watering. This is for all turf grass all over the place. Deep means 1 inch all at one time. Put some cat food or tuna cans around the yard, and time how long it takes your sprinkler(s) to fill all the cans. Memorize that time. That will be the time you water from now on. My hose, sprinkler and water pressure takes 8 full hours to fill the cans. Your time will likely be less. I like gentle watering. As for watering frequency, that depends on the daytime air temperature. With temps in the 90s, deep water once per week. With temps in the 80s, deep water once every 2 weeks. With temps in the 70s, deep water once every 3 weeks. With temps below 70, deep water once a month. Note that you have to keep up with quickly changing temps in the spring and fall. This deep and infrequent schedule works in Phoenix and in Vermont, so it should work for you. The reason for deep and infrequent is to grow deeper, more drought resistant roots and to allow the soil to dry completely at the surface for several days before watering again. If it rains, reset your calendar to account for the rainfall.

If you want to convert to St Augustine, you can do that either the fast way ($$$$) or the slow way ($). The fast way is to kill everything and sod again with St Augustine. The slow way is to buy a couple pieces ($10 total) of St Augustine and place them in the shadiest parts of the lawn. Dig out the bermuda that's already there so the roots of the new sod can get a grip. Keep that sod moist until it knits in. Then just go with it. St Augustine will grow out 15 feet per year in all directions. The first year you will have sparse runners. The second year those runners will fill in and become very dense while continuing to send more runners out 15 feet. The St Augustine will completely overrun the bermuda.

St Augustine should have the following care:

• Water deeply and infrequently as above.

• Mulch mow at the mower's HIGHEST setting ALWAYS. You can let it go 2 or 3 weeks before mowing.

• Fertilize once in late May, once in early September, and again in late fall after it completely stops growing.

• Spot spray weeds in April and September. Atrazine is the only herbicide that works.

• Spray for insects as necessary and not in anticipation of problems.

• St Aug can get disease, but if you water as stated, that should be minimal.

Note that St Aug needs much less attention during the year than bermuda does.

Thank you, David. You should start your own blog/site if you have yet to do so.

Your real world expertise is beyond helpful!

Also, forgot to mention that before the sod was laid, the renovators did a poor job getting rid of part of a cement walk way. I suppose they just laid the sod on top of the cement path and went on their way, I hadn't moved in yet to notice.

As you can see in the photo below, the grass is trying to convert like the rest of the yard but I am afraid the grass roots of this area only go down MAYBE 2 inches before hitting the cemented pathway (As I tested with my drill) Do you have any suggestions, remedy, or thoughts at all about what can possibly be done here? The first photo was taken a few months earlier than the second one.