You are just coming out of a long winter and so grass does tend to look awful at the start of the year. I doubt this has to do with kind of grass that's been laid. It's not the gardiners fault. You have an issue with animals - I can't understand why squirrels or cats would need to dig there. I might suspect a raccoon because they are normally after beetle grubs which come to the surface around thsi time of the year. They tend to rip open grass to reach to this areas. Squirrels normally dig to get to their hidden nuts or to get at tulip bulbs. Cats dig because they need to do their business there. Crows just stick in their beaks to grab the worms. So my thoughts are -- raccoons are doing this. If you pull up a section of your grass and see grubs, that's what's causing the grass to have patches and for holes dug by raccoons.

You will definitely see lines along where the tiles of sod meet. I suspect you put down the grass just before fall and before the grass managed to meld into each other.

Heres a simple remedy, --detaching - that is scratching the grass to remove the dead grass.

Deal with the grubs - in Ontario we can no longer use insecticides. Perhaps in Montreal it's different. Barring insecticides, the organic way is using nematodes (a microscopic worm which attacks grubs and are available at garden centres).

Next add good top soil, (if you have a large area to cover, it's cheaper to get them by the truckload. - Next spread it thinly all over the yard like you are icing a cake. I like using the back of my rake to do this job. Next spread new grass seeds. I do this every 2 weeks to ensure the gaps I've missed are covered. New grass will germinate in about 2 weeks and in no time you willhave a great looking yard again.

Hope it works.

We can't use insecticides in Montreal either. We can use nematodes, and if they are applied correctly, and the lawn is otherwise healthy, they usually work well on our local grubs. Almost any garden centre will have them in now or very shortly, and they can be applied in a couple of weeks. Be sure to follow the instructions or they will not work!!!!

If you're in the city, it might very well be squirrels ripping up your yard - we have a really bad squirrel problem in some parts of the city. They are what causes the damage in my yard. It is also quite possibly skunks. We have lots of raccoons, but even more skunks, and they looooove grubs.

Unless you put your sod in in the spring last year, you did not have a great year for getting it established. It rained almost every day for the first half of summer, then almost no rain at all for the second half. We also had a serious lack of snow this winter, so there was very little moisture in the soil for this spring. Not good for a new lawn!

BP

Ah yes, I've forgotten about skunks. I have one hiding out in my backyard somewhere.

I should also add mice to the list of possible culprits. Last year I had a family of mice move beneath my deck and in no time, they started to rip off chunks of grass sods which they use apparently for nest building. I fixed the problem with mice baits all over the yard.

Thanks for all the advice. I will go out and search for grubs. I hope I don't have a skunk living in my back yard. As for raccoons I don't thinks so I just have a lot of squirrels. We did put it down late summer so I know that problem. I am going to go this Sunday and start the soiling and seeding. I just didn't get how "detaching" works. can you be more specific, I'm new at this. I appreciate.

Just use your rake and gently 'brush' off the dead grass leaves with it. I meant to spell it out as 'dethatching' -- that is the removal of thatch.. Sorry if this was confusing.