Spot spray early & often, then skip the aeration

Don't think I'm going to skip it this year. Thanks for the feedback.

Why are you aerating? Why are you aerating after you fertilize?

Aerating may not be necessary. You could spray baby shampoo (3 oz/1 k lawn) and get great results. Repeat every month and you may be surprised with the results, I was.

If you are dead set on your routines then consider aerating first then fertilizing.

I'm an obsessive over-planner too... If you're going to aerate, I would save the fertilizer for afterwards to help the grass recover.

I'm aerating to open up some heavily compacted areas in my yard. I rented one a couple years ago and didn't mind the price or process.

My initial thought was to fertilize after aerating until I read an article on thatch control that said to do the opposite.

You can find that here, about halfway down under the Aerification bullet.

http://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/yard-garden/lawns/thatch-control/

If aerating every couple of years is an issue, I would consider checking your soil's chemistry with a Logan Lab soil test. I have soil so bad I rototilled it to help. The next weekend I started reading this forum at following the advice/suggestions. Long story short, my soil was "compacted" because of heavy mineral deposits, mainly Magnesium. Tilling/aerating was a temporary solution. Fixing the chemistry was the better long term plan. I started spraying shampoo on my yard (tilled areas and other areas I hadn't done). In about 3 wks, my soil got soft. I kept doing it and my soil became "springy." Now, months later, when dry, I can hand dig holes in my yard.

Based on the lab test I also added Gypsum as suggested. Now every month and load up my sprayer with a shampoo/molasses mixture and do a quick pass.

I live in CA where we get 10" rain per year. It's hot, dry, with tons of minerals in our soil. My soil now looks and feels completely different than all my neighbors who once thought I was crazy.