Post a close up picture please

thank you for your prompt reply Tom, here are a couple of closer pics, not sure how close you want. Keep in mind it is just the end of March here and i am in Toronto suburbs. it sees to have spread even more from last year BTW there are some Evergreens behind my property but have been there for years and my lawn was OK before. I tried grass seed last year but no luck. dont want to waste my time laying down sod if it is just going to die.

Way closer than that, please. :-) Also, how are the neighbors' laws on the other side of the fence?

thanks for your help, will these work? Houses on either side are both ok. there are some pine trees behind my property but they have been there for years

I do not see this as evidence of grubs (damage patterns are irregular and patchy), and can't see any obvious disease damage, either--your neighbors would share that. The dead edge is far enough from the pine trees that I don't think they're causing an issue.

Some pine trees can and do kill grasses around them via shadowing it out and do exhibit allelopathy (natural pre-emergent and herbicide) to surrounding plants, but it's limited and certainly does not go that far.

So...you seem to have a natural swale in the midst of the property, but I'd expect the worst problems there, not above it. And besides, my mother has one of those (I have one at the base of my property) and neither of us have an issue that can't be conquered by good care, and we live in Pennsylvania (dislike sunlight? Wait ten minutes, it'll rain).

I still can't ID the lawn type, but I'm guessing standard tri-mix (fescue, bluegrass, KBG, heavy on the fescue as I don't see much KBG).

How do you feed and how often? I'm not going to be judgmental, I'm just getting a feel for the grass treatment.

Can you get a soil test? We usually recommend Logan Labs, but that's in the US and you're not. I'm not sure what the resources are in Canada, but soil issues certainly can damage and destroy grass.

thanks for your detailed reply. i will look around to get a soil sample done. would you recommend trying to lay down some new sod or am i just wasting my $$

It's worth a try as long as you water it in correctly until it roots, and then feed it correctly once it's in (on Memorial Day...er, end of May as that's an American holiday!, the first of September, and around a month before ground freeze...hopefully October 1 for you folks).

Use any good high-nitrogen fertilizer.

Is it possible your neighbor in the back has a watering problem? A water leak would keep the ground saturated too long and kill off normal turf.

no i dont think so, i have weeping tiles running the entire width my backyard at the bottom on the hill and there is nobody behind me

Is the area by the fence not getting adequate sunlight? Being some significant grade, I would think not enough moisture would also be a problem. Did you peek at your neighbors' lawns? How do their look in that area. That area is so steep, it would be hard to reseed. Toronto lawns are usually sodded anways.

How close are the trunks of those two trees to the fence? When was the last time you had grass there, a full covering thick lawn? what year? if you remember?

neighbors lawn is doing fine, i had grass there a few years ago and each year it just seems to spread. the roots from the tree are very close to the surface. not thick roots but like spider veins. tree trunk is about 4 feet beyond the fence. at the bottom of the hill the grass seems to have no roots

Coronavirus

could these be grubs? i have put down nanomites last year

Yes possible, once you have them it's treating the grass every-year. I asked about the trees because if it's acidity, grass won't grow, nothing will.