Question
We have a very shady front yard and have never had any luck with grass.  Being tired of all the dirt, last April we had the yard re-slopped, graded with topsoil, seeded and covered with straw.  The contractor used a grass seed mixture specifically for very shady areas (we also have numerous white oak trees (central VA)
The grass slowly came in, made it through the summer and winter and spring and then in May of this year, we began to notice that the grass was dying. Not just in one spot but it seemed to sweep
across the yard turning brown and in one month it was all dead.  We now have dirt with a few sprigs of grass here and there.  I'm ready to try again and need some advice as to what to do so this doesn't happen again.  This may not be important but I planted 2 Dwarf Alberta Spruces in April and by June first they were heavily infested with spider mites. These were in the front beds against our house......Please help!!!

Answer
A condition like you describe, sweeping across the lawn in one month, sounds like an insect attack or maybe a fungus. The fungus would probably have occured in separate "episodes" rather than a uniform sweep. Try a soap flush on an area of green grass, ahead of the brown and see if any harmful insects come up. Pull on some of the material most recently killed. If it comes away easily and is slimy then you may have had a fungus attack. I have no experience of mites feeding on lawn grasses but that does not mean that it cannot happen.