SoCal, huh? Does that mean La Jolla? Big Bear Lake? Manhattan Beach? Barstow? El Monte? Indio? Ventura? Palmdale? You're going to have to home in a little better if you want good help.

What kind of grass do you have? It doesn't look like you have Marathon, but I'd like to be sure. If you don't know what you have then take a picture of the good grass from a distance of 6 inches but do it in the shade somewhere or when it is overcast. It's real hard to see anything in bright sunlight.

When were the last two times you fertilized and what did you use? Have you ever used organic fertilizer?

Do you water every morning? How long do you water? Is there runoff? Have you watched your sprinklers recently to see if every zone is working properly and there are no geysers?

How was the lawn at the end of the season last year? Nice or starting to go downhill?

Okay I took a closer look at the second picture. I see some St Augustine in there. Is that what you want to have or is that the "crabgrass" problem?

Besides a more specific So Cal location I wondered what mowing height you use? looks pretty short. Or, do you not mow & use a service? Either way, with water restrictions, maybe now’s an opportune time to think of changing turf to some form of xeriscape?

I am specifically in Lake Forest, Ca. We fertilize twice a year, spinklers go on in the early morning for approx 5 min. My husband said the grass is predominately fescue. We have always had to fight crabgrass and last year end of season grass was looking ok. About a week ago, he raked the grass real hard since it was all dying to get dead grass out to assess the damage. Its had spots before but never to this level of dying off. My husband mows the lawn himself. We are waiting for the soil report. Does this look like a fungus or some kind of pest?

Thank you for the information. we are considering letting itq die and then starting over. You definitely gave us food for thought.

Here's another morsel for thought. It's hard to always see from a picture, but it appears in the second picture that the soil is mounded up from the concrete edges to a high spot in the center. If this is what you have, then you already have too much soil in the yard. Don't let any landscapers tell you that you need more soil for any reason. New soil is hardly ever better soil. It will need to be amended to make it good, so you may as well amend what you have to improve it. Organic fertilizer is the unsung hero in soil improvement...along with inches of mulch.

I have no idea what is wrong with your lawn but it looks like it is seriously damaged. Since you were talking about letting it die and starting over I wonder if you would consider a more water friendly alternative?

Does your water district have any incentives for replacing turf?

A rock mulch with low water use plants is much more attractive than a struggling lawn IMHO and you will save on your water bill and help with the increasing drought situation in the southwest.

Yes, we are considering our options for drought tolerant landscaping. As suggested in a post above, we need to get rid of dirt and level the lawn a bit. This is going to be a dyi project so we are trying to learn as much as we can prior so hopefully, its one and done with low maintenance.

I wouldn't remove that hump! we brought soil in to add berms to our front and back yard so they wouldn't be dead flat. If you are watering a lawn flat is good to keep water from draining off but if you convert to mulch and plants on a drip system keep your hill:)

Great that you’re considering changing to to more water friendly scape! Even though you plan to DIY, it is helpful to pay for a landscape plan done by a landscape design expert. We did that for a new house blank slate landscape which was also a DIY project done over months. Having the plan to follow was a game changer & well worth the couple hundred $$. It’s also helpful to take pics of yards & plants you like. There are also many posts on this site about replacing turf with water friendly / low water plants that might be helpful.

Contemplating refurbishing or replacing a lawn in SoCal in 2022 is irresponsible! Any kind of lawn or any kind of turf grass. As of yesterday, 6/1, ALL of SoCal is under watering restrictions. Daily watering of anything, using water from any source, public or private (other than gray water) is prohibited and subject to fines, unless new build landscaping, which this is not. OC's restrictions (twice weekly for no more than one hour) are less restrictive than LA county's but still massively insufficient to regenerate and maintain a lawn.

Converting the lawn to a drought friendly, xeric garden is the only ethical procedure to follow.

As for removing soil, if you do not have a drainage problem now, meaning water does not run back toward the house when it rains, then you don't need to go to the expense of removing soil. Just don't have more brought in.