Question
I have a ver nice lawn pretty much all year long on Southern California.  But every summer after 4th of July, give or take, many spots throughout the yard start to turn brown as though they are diseased or have a fungus.  we aerate mid-summer and fertilize and eventually it seems to improve but for about 6-8 weeks it looks very unhealthy....any thoughts on what the problem might be and more importantly suggestions to fix it and keep it fromr e-occuring?

Answer
Hey Joe!
         I'm also from So Cal!(when I'm not stationed in Sicily, that is...)well what I would think would be that maybe your fertilizer "runs out" for lack of a better term. Thats when it starts to get ugly,you return all the chemicals and it takes about 6-8 weeks for the grass to "recover". When you fertilize,especially after you aerate, the fertilizer gets down in the holes deep into your soil,and it chases away all the good natural things in your soil, all the bugs,worms,critters etc. that are supposed to be there and your lawn becomes dependent on your fertilizer.this is what I recommend:
          Skip the fertilizer this year. aerate like regular,keep on watering the yard like i assume you already do and your yard might take a little while longer to recover,but it will.all of those chemicals need to wash out before all of the good things return and start to work on your soil.
           one important thing that people seem to not do is, let your grass grow! when you grass grows,the roots are growing too,and that is exactly what you want.let it grow for about a month or so,and then cut it high! you should only take the top 1/3 of the blades off when you mow.It will take a little time and lots of patience,as well as time,but nature will take over and your yard will be better that ever!
             If you have anymore questions, you know where to find me!