Hey everyone, my wife and I bought our first home 2 years ago from a couple who literally NEVER cared for the lawn when they lived here. When we moved in, the grass was dead (the guy hated mowing so much, he would intentionally scalp the grass so close to the ground that most of the sprinkler heads had been cut off). The lawn was a mix of dead grass, crab grass, dandelions and pretty much every weed imaginable. The house is in a beautiful neighborhood and all my neighbors have plush, green, thick lawns. For the past 2 years I have managed to breath some life back into it but can't seem to get it dark green and thick.

No matter how much I watered it last summer, the lawn stayed light green, thin with visible dead undergrowth. After spreading fertilizer on it, the lawn would grow faster but that's about it. I'm pretty sure the lawn has never been thatched or aerated, so I'm thinking this needs to be done ASAP. Will thatch/core aeration help me compete with the other lawns?