Lawns - Dead Patches, Lyme? Grubs?

Hello all. I am new to landscaping and would appreciate some assistance. I moved here in October 08 and when I came to look at the house the grass didn't look like this. I do believe he had Chemlawn service here and I would like to get the grass back to the way it looked myself if that is possible. I will link to pictures because they are big and i wanted to make sure you could see the detail, rather than embed them and make everyones screens go crazy.

Lets start with the front of the house.
Front Yard (http://www.onesicks10.com/linked/grass/IMG_0627.jpg) This is the north side of the house, It never really gets full sunlight until the late afternoon.

This is the side of the house, this is the nicest looking grass on the lot. Its practically flawless and probably rarely gets any direct sunlight. Side Yard (http://www.onesicks10.com/linked/grass/IMG_0626.jpg)

Here is the back yard, where pretty much all of the problems are. There is dead patchy grass over about 60% of the yard, there are a few close up pictures for more detail. Does this look like grub damage or burn marks? I have checked the height of the mower, seems fine I actually cut it a little longer to test my theory. We hav also had a good amount of rain the past week so water should not be the issue here. There are some giant pine trees in the back (which I will attach as well) I have been told I should put down lots of lyme because of the pH in the needles. Will lyme make my grass more green?
You should be able to zoom in pretty far with these pictures.


Back Yard 1 (http://www.onesicks10.com/linked/grass/IMG_0616.jpg) Notice the dead flower bushes on the island as well

Back Yard 1 Close Up (http://www.onesicks10.com/linked/grass/IMG_0617.jpg)

Back Yard 2 Close (http://www.onesicks10.com/linked/grass/IMG_0619.jpg)

Dead Grass REAL Close Up (http://www.onesicks10.com/linked/grass/IMG_0620.jpg)

Overall Back Yard (http://www.onesicks10.com/linked/grass/IMG_0623.jpg) If you zoom way in on this you can see a lot of the patches

Pine Tree (http://www.onesicks10.com/linked/grass/IMG_0624.jpg)

Any help is greatly appreciated. If the pictures need to be resized please let me know.

Thank you!
-Mike

Mike: the first thing to do is take about 8 or 10 soil samples and take them to your cooperative extension service for analysis. That is a sure fire way to find out what your soil needs to support your lawn.

Mike: the first thing to do is take about 8 or 10 soil samples and take them to your cooperative extension service for analysis. That is a sure fire way to find out what your soil needs to support your lawn.

I can do that, but what is a "cooperative extension service?"

Thanks!

Cooperative Extension Services are usually a part of the government and usually associated with larger Universities. Ours is associated with the University of Georgia. Not sure if UConn would have one, or not. Check with your local or county government health department. They can steer you in the right direction.