"cheryl" wrote in message
m...

areas. i am guessing the soil is adobe-like. i think now it is a
mixture of bluegrass, bentgrass, fescue, crabgrass and mushrooms.

Your garden store ought to stock grass
seed varieties that thrive in shade, but the
main problem remains the soil. Try to improve
it adding compost, peat moss etc.

Your main decision is between:
(a) Major renovation by tilling in compost
and reseeding overall. You then water daily
until grass sprouts.
(b) Filling in patches with compost, seed
and watering.

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs (Ottawa, Canada)
2