A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion Plant pests and problems Lawn care problems Black thumbed beginner-lumpy lawn

I live in Duluth, MN, and have a BEASTLY lawn in declining health. A few facts:

Two summers ago, my husband went hog wild crazy and put literally FIVE times the recommended fertilizer with crab grass preventer on the lawn. I was astonished we had any grass at all after that, but it seemed surprisingly unassaulted. (So did the crab grass!)

Last summer we started to get small (5" or less? diameter) patches of dying/dead grass that have grown into larger (18"?) patches of just plain dirt. The dirt appears to have sunken in a little. I tried planting seed last year, but nothing grew.

For some reason, our lawn is getting progressively "lumpier." To the point I'm afraid I'm going to turn an ankle when I mow.

1. Any ideas what might be killing our grass?
2. Any ideas what's causing the lumpiness?

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me!

It sounds like a disease problem. Could you post some photo's of your lawn to be sure?

As far as the lumpiness goes, it could be too thich of a thatch layer. That could also be one of the causes of a disease problem.