Oh my goodness.... thank-you for this question, Dr. Matt. My friends make fun of me and my unhealthy relationship with my lawn.

Sure, it is partially a geeky joke where I refer to my lawn as "my little crops", but truth be known, I enjoy looking across a full green lawn. I enjoy working outside in the summer and it's always inspiring when the yard looks nice.

Right now, in California, here is what I would do to ensure that my lawn was ready for an outstanding summer:

1)
Consider airating your lawn. Many tool rental depots will rent you an airator for about $20 per hour.

Oxygen and nutrients often have a difficult time penetrating the surface of lawns. Between root growth and compacted soil, airating is a good idea every other year.

2)
Mix a healthy batch of composted topsoil along with a very small amount of nitrogen rich fertilizer and coconut husks.

Dump the mixture in various positions of your lawn and rake through. Think carefully about drainage. This is a really great opportunity to level out any hills or cover any holes that can hold too much water. Irregularly shaped yellow and brown patches are often caused by small swells in your yard that hold water irregularly over the winter months.

Coconut husks can be purchased at many home improvement stores in tightly compressed blocks. The coconut husks will foster a solid top layer of protection and generally protect and equalize your turf.

3)
In about a week, after a rain or solid watering, toss a combined formula seed down. Visit a local garden center to obtain good quality seed. Purchasing discount seed right now will result in more weeds later in the summer. The extra money you spend now will be saved in weed removal / control later on.

Ask the local garden center manager what the perfect type of high yield, slow growth seed is for your exact area. This changes drastically not only from State-to-state but from neighborhood to neighborhood along the West coast.

4)
Last, consider taking a green approach to your lawn. If you regularly spread good quality seed, your grass will grow faster than unwanted dandelions and the like.

I use a simple, inexpensive manual weed shovel and pick weeds that find their way in. I carefully fill the resulting hole with a mix of composted topsoil and super-fast-grow seed.

5)
Here's a bonus tip. Watering your lawn and garden is expensive in a lot of areas and illegal in populated ares during the hottest summer months.

Consider cultivating rainwater from your roof all year long. All it takes is a rain barrel (or even large Rubbermaid trash cans) and a $10 downspout diverter that can be found at any home improvement store.

Simply elevate the rain barrel up a little bit (like on a cement block), install the downspout diverter and set it to enter the barrel. When the barrel is full, divert the rainwater back into the sewer system or wherever it was going.

Using rainwater not only saves you money and allows you to water throughout the summer, but it also avoids putting the chemicals that are used to ensure healthy drinking water is distributed. This rainwater will result in a shockingly better looking lawn and garden flowers that are fuller and generally happier.

I could go on, and on, and on about lawns. I know it's a bit sad. But, I like working outside in the summer.
Source(s):
I'm more than a bit crazy about my lawn.

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