Did you use the milorganite at the recommended bag rate? Because it looks like it hasn't been fertilized in a year. The dark green spots are likely where your dogs pee and turn the grass green. When it is properly fertilized you won't see those spots. During the summer, for the weeks you did not receive a full inch of rain, you should have supplemented the rainfall to get the rest of the inch. When the high temps are barely making 90, then you can go to once every 2 weeks. These water apps should be a full inch all at one time so it soaks down deep. The beauty of an organic regimen is you don't need a schedule. But as a minimum you should fertilize 3x per year. Once in late spring (Memorial Day is good), once in early fall (Labor day is good), and once in late fall (Thanksgiving is good). The normal application rate for a grain type organic fertilizer is 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet. Grain type fertilizers come from grains. SHOCK! Grains include corn and wheat but also beans like soybean and other plants like cottonseed and alfalfa. These are distinguished from the animal matter fertilizers including blood meal, meat meal, fish meal, and others. Another class of organic fertilizer is the animal byproducts like feathers and dung. These work completely opposite from each other but I've put them together just for classification here. Grain type ferts should be used at somewhere between 20 and 50 pounds per 1,000 square feet. Animal products should be used more like 5 pounds per 1,000. Feathers can go on at any rate as they don't decompose very quickly - at least until you have used them for a year or so. Something like poultry litter works well as an additive to other organic fertilizers. Use it at the rate of the other fertilizer schedule. Can you overdo organic fertilizer? No. One of the gurus on another forum wanted to increase the amount of organic matter in his soil, so he applied 50 pounds of Milorganite and soybean meal every weekend all summer long. The only thing that happened is his lawn became the best lawn on the planet for 5 months. Actually it was the best for 12 months because it remained green all through the year. So basically you and your wallet can come up with your own plan. I would use 3 apps per year as a minimum. Grain type organics will not burn so you can use them any day, or every day, of the year. I would get the grass fertilized and get the watering under control before doing anything about the weeds. Once the grass is greened up and the weeds, too, then you can spot spray the weeds with Weed-b-Gone Chickweed, Clover, and Oxalis liquid. That's the full name. After you get the weeds out, the KBG should fill in and help keep them out. The infrequent watering mentioned above will help keep them out. Mulch mow weekly at a minimum of 3 inches. I've seen KBG mowed at 4 and really like the look. Taller grass holds the water longer and has deeper roots to go get it. It also helps keep weeds out by shading the ground better.

Actually, designing a swale or even a rain garden is a good idea for many gardens, even quite small ones. And it really doesn't make too much difference with the dryness - or not - of the climate. Unless already existing as a low lying, water accumulating area (i.e. a bog or swamp, perhaps only seasonally), a swale will simply catch and retain rainfall and allow it to be gradually absorbed into the soil. Among the reasons for this is to avoid seasonal flooding of the landscape, to reabsorb pollutants that are present in storm run-off before they can reach streams and groundwater or simply to retain and re-use infrequent rainfall. In your case, the latter seems most appropriate although when it does rain in SoCal, that rain can come fast and furious, so the other two reasons may be equally as valid as well, at least on a now-and-again basis. A swale is just a low lying area......when rainfall does occur, the water will flow to the lowest point, the swale, so it does need to be constructed to be lower than current grade. If any slope to the yard at all, the swale should be located at the low point. If not, you need to grade your new "lasagna" planting to slope away from the structure and toward to the designated swale site. And you will need to excavate the swale to some degree, depending on the thickness you can manage with your lasagna method. I doubt constructing swales was devised with a lasagna method of bed construction in mind. It does involve some work to do it correctly. Grading and directing water runoff to the correct area is critical. And you want something that slows water penetration yet provides good drainage at the bottom of the swale, not just soil - coarse sand and river rocks or coarse drainage gravel are common. And yes, this is much more of a landscape design issue than just a soil question ;-) Do some research online to see how to construct an effective swale. Even check out rain garden sites - they are a wealth of information for this sort of activity if for a slightly different purpose. One other thing you may want to do is investigate dry stream beds as a landscape feature. Not only do these make an attractive focal point to a drought tolerant garden, they will help to direct any rainwater runoff (even irrigation run-off) to the appropriate swale location where it can be dissipated evenly through the soil profile. Where moisture accumulates surrounding the swale and along its sides is where you can locate more thirsty plants. If you don't already have a landscape designer, you might want to consider hiring one. They could be a huge help in the layout, design and construction of this kind of feature, as well as offering suitable planting suggestions.

I don't know any organic lawn practitioners that use greensand every year. Those patches of neon green grass are probably creeping bent, poa trivialis or poa annua. They are all grasses but considered weeds in a descent lawn. The non-chemical approach would be to dig the spots out or just live with them. They seem to be doing real well if they are cutting high and watering deeply but infrequently. They should start immediately spreading grains such as soybean meal, or commercial organic fertilizers like milorganite. There are many organic feeds for lawns. Microbes in the dirt will find the food, eat it and multiply like crazy and release nutrients to the grass. Bill Hill Here is a link that might be useful: Organic lawncare FAQ

I use one of those lithium ion battery trimmers from Black & Decker. It works better than I could have hoped for considering it was a $89 trimmer. http://www.homedepot.com/p/BLACK-DECKER-20-Volt-Max-Lithium-Ion-2-Speed-String-Trimmer-LST522/206462166 The edging wheel makes it extremely easy to get up close to fences and other objects without worrying about snapping the line or hitting something. The battery may be a turn off for some. I can get about 1 hour of non-stop trimming per battery (it comes with 2). It is extremely convenient to use batteries and not worry about mixing fuel & oil, stabilizing the fuel, winterizing the trimmer, etc. Its definitely a good budget buy; however, I would recommend buying an extra set of 2 batteries. Each battery takes about 5 hours to charge, and I use 2 batteries each time I trim. It's "comforting" to know that I have 2 extra fully charged batteries ready-to-go just in case...