Question
I live in Illinois, and suddenly a few weeks ago I discovered bare spots in my lawn where the grass is completely gone and just the black dirt is exposed.
Hence making it a mess for us and our two small dogs.
We have never had this problem before, the Dogs are not unsupervised and do not dig. It's not holes just dirt spots without sudden grass.
Can it be Moles? Thank you. Iris

Answer
Hi Iris,

This could be one of many potential issues. It really depends on where the spots are, when did they appear, what do they look like, etc? Without having had the opportyunity to look at them though, I'd venture it is either grubs or shade.

Grubs: If the spots are in sunnier areas and you've noticed clumps of dead grass ripped out, it could likely be grub damage.

Shade: Though they may seem sudden, could it be that these spots actually gradually formed through the season, and you've only just noticed them now? Are they in shadier areas of the property? It could be that certain areas just don't get enough sunlight and the grass thinned out to nothing as the year went on.

Moles: Not likely.  Moles make tunnels that will be raised and will sometimes die. When this happens, you are left with a dead line, not a patch.

Let me know if the patches don't fit either of those categories and/or if you have some pictures that I could use for a more positive diagnosis.

Thank you!

-Chris Brown
www.TheLawnCoach.com