Also for watering: the soil looks too dry too soon currently. Mine, too--and I have no real problems. The very top surface of the soil dries out really fast in sun and wind, but that doesn't mean there isn't water underneath. You can test that by pushing a screwdriver into the soil. If it goes in fairly easily (barring rocks), your soil is damp. Or drive a small trowel into it and separate it into a V shape by rocking it a little bit. That'll give you a direct visual on how deep the water is. Here would be my plan: for now do very frequent waterings to help really wet the soil, I'm not familiar with California (except for the part about moderate temperatures and no rain), but this doesn't sound like a good idea--it encourages shallow roots and lawn diseases. The standard is 1" of water a week, all at once (well, within a day to allow for on/off cycles to allow the water to penetrate). For sandy soil your mileage will differ because the water wicks out fast and goes very deep very quickly. I will also probably try milorganite as a jump start, as I fear my soil is probably pretty depleted. I swear by it, others don't (it is processed sewage, but heated enough to kill everything in it). The 18 lbs/thousand square feet I put down last weekend kicked in and it's a rainy week. The grass, since Sunday, has grown one and a half inches and gone a deeper green. Once it stops raining, I'll mow. I went high, but I'm going to renovate this fall--with a deep, heavy core aeration I want lots of organics mixing into the holes. I alternate it with alfalfa and soy. When I started (early last year), my soil profile was slightly silty clay, poor drainage, very poor water penetration, hard as a rock, and a light tan. It had been corn field for as long as I could remember prior to building, and even my parents don't remember when it wasn't. Call it 40 years of abuse. Now it's still slightly silty clay (nothing's going to change that short of a renovation down to a foot or more). Drainage is fair to good, penetration is good to excellent, the soil is still hard when dry (it's supposed to be), but spongy when wet. The top half-inch is black, another inch is deep brown, and a good three inches below that have turned a midrange brown. Everything grows better and more strongly. I'm very pleased. Some older photos are here. I have to update them--the grass has improved since these were taken and the season advanced a bit.

I agree 100% with your "learn how to feed the soil, water deeply and infrequently, mow high, and most of your lawn problems calling for other chemicals will go away. "100%", no." I respect that. But there limits to that, very limited. If you have POA and mow high you are adding to the issue. If you do not have a inground sprinkler sys and have a large area waterind water deeply and infrequently, is great but I hope you have lots of time to know when to move, lots of $$ for hoses etc. If you have Cinquefoil, chichweed, Dandelion, dollarweed, foxtail or other small issues (up in Yankee world) from neighbors etc you will need a chemical herb. IF you do not use them [chems], you will never get rid of them and will spread. I have tried what you have stated for years (back in the ealy 90's) for reasons outside this thread. I have gotten way better results using herbs then anything..Less time, proper mowing, proper watering, less money then going the organic route and a time saver on these issues. The key for me is cheaper also. I like use 7oz of Dim to get proper control for crabgrass and will get 95% of it. Then throw on Drive 75 for up to 2 or 3 tiller and you are done for months. That is nice and easy and cost $10 in product and 30 mintues time. :) You way works in a perfect world with no outside issues. I live in Tx and did zero to my lawn and look not to bad. But I feel, in FF world we have a little more issues with items noted above.

fireants are a major issue here... Not to hijack the thread, but...ntbio: have you tried using sugar or molasses against the fireants? The technique is to drench the mound with a gallon of sugar water and spray another half gallon in a 10-foot circle around the mound. The theory is that the fire ants collect protein sources from around the garden (and house) and bring them to their mound. If you drench the food source with sugar, their food source will "go bad" on them and they will die or leave. If you spray around the mound, too, they will keep walking to find a more hospitable place to live. Mix 2 ounces of molasses or table sugar to a gallon of water. I've also heard of adding a couple ounces of pure orange oil to the drench. Orange oil is something I'm familiar with from my old Air Force days. I was an engineer working next to the chemist who did the study to approve orange oil for cleaning jet engine parts. That stuff dissolves nearly any organic oil or wax, like the waxy covering that many insects have on their bodies. So the oil should weaken the ants' bodies making them susceptible to microbial attack.

This upcoming year, I am probably going to overdo it again based on my excitement and desire to try different things. However, here is my tentative plan: March: I am going to get soil tests in two places: 1) where my grass is going great 2) the two spots where the grass is shaky April 1: I am going with a chemical preemergent. I just feel like I have to break the weed cycle for a year to give the grass a chance to fill in. I will also drop some corn meal gluten at that time. I will spray my first round of compost tea. May 1: I am going to go with some corn meal, not corn meal gluten, since I have had some fungus problems. I will continue with a light spray of compost tea. I am obsessed with getting the right bacteria/fungi situation going on my lawn - hence the compost tea and corn meal. June 1: Once again, I am going with a light sprinkling of corn meal as well as some compost tea. August 15: Alfalfa September 1: Compost, Overseed, Milorganite. October 1: Milorganite or soy bean meal, along with some compost tea. November 15: Cockadoodledoodoo chicken fertilizer. As you can see, I am going with a few different things because not only do I find this all fun, but also I am not sure what will - or won't - work. Here are my reasons: 1) corn meal gluten: They say it takes a couple years before it truly works. So, while I am working it into the soil, I am going to give it one last shot of synthetic preemergent. 2) corn meal: I have a hunch that I have some fungus issues. 3) Alfalfa: I am doing this for the phosphorus that will be needed two weeks later for the overseeding. 4) Milorganite: I like Milorganite. I have liked the results thus far. 5) Cockadoodledoodoo: My uncle uses it, and his house is the first in his neighborhood to green up. Also, the organic company that services my neighborhood uses something like it exclusively (all applications), and their lawns are always as green as the chemically treated ones.