a photo from after i mowed today.

a photo from after i mowed today.

a photo from after i mowed today.

another photo from after i mowed today.

Two things.

1. Where do you live. This may help narrow down what type of sod was laid.
2. Have you had a soil test done? Looks like your throwing a lot of stuff on it, but if your throwing it on without an analysis it is like a crapshoot. Example, Your throwing lime down but may already have a high PH

Step 1 - Get a soil test to see if there are any deficiencies or excess of potassium, phosporus, etc.

I live in Western Washington. I have not have a soil test done, how do I do that? :)

Based on where you live, one would think the grass is some type of fescue or rye.

You may have to ask around as far as a local source. Check with some local gardening centers, John Deere landscapes, sometimes universities offer soil testing. Also check with your county extension office or farmers coop if they are around.

Your other alternative is sending a sample to a place in Ohio called Logan Labs. The test is $20 and I think it cost me about $5 to send the sample. Once you get it back, there is another lawn site (I don't think I can mention the name) that has a bunch of self proclaimed "soil crazies" who intepret the data and set you up a plan to balance everyting. Great bunch of guys and they do it as a hobby.

If you go that route, google, "andy logan labs soil test" and you will find the crazies. Note that they only interpret and recommend from Logan Labs test.

Have you tried water? The turf is wilting in a couple of those pictures.

I doubt Western Washington has been all that dry. The soil test certainly sounds like the first suggestion.

Most of the country had a much colder winter than normal - how about you? Grass coming back late and crappy in Spring after a long and/or harsh winter is common this year. Did you have a lot of snow cover?

Also, it's new sod laid last Fall so I suspect that it rooted unevenly - if some spots are hard packed and others were softer you can get that effect, especially if Winter was harsher than normal or wetter - roots can rot if sitting in a puddle.

Have you 'poked' around much with a garden fork or a long screwdriver? Builders would rather roll sod over a big rock than move it sometimes (gotta love them) - that could explain why it looks like you had a big dog watering in spots that are tall and green now.

I'm betting your issue is under the sod. If they did not break up the soil or left a few bricks or spilled concrete and God knows what the sod would not have had time to get established before winter.

If you have a local source of good, aged manure compost I'd rent a core aerator from your local tool rental place, swiss cheese the lawn for an afternoon and then top dress with some good compost to get some life and worm food back in the soil. Often, builders will 'scrape off' the nice rich top soil before building and then right before laying the sod they'll dump sand and fill to replace it and it takes a while for the soil to get healthy again. I see the edge of a garden there - when you plant flowers you dig a nice hole and mix in rich soil, right? Lawn likes the same thing for the same reason. Top Dressing with compost and core aeration works the good stuff back in, breaks up any compaction and starts making the soil more uniform... you may have gravel in one spot, sand in another and clay in a third with a new build but hang in there, it can come a long way in one season.

Lay off the fertilizers and lime until you get a soil analysis, what looks like wilt could also be salt/fertilizer burn. If you aerate and spread compost around it will help with that as well.