Help! Keeping Lawn on Life Support.

[kf4hqf]

Hi folks, just wanted to see if any of the pros can give me some advice on a lawn in pretty bad shape. I moved into a new development about 18 months ago. The builders seeded the back yard but it didn't take for several reasons, but mainly because I hadn't moved in yet and it simply wasn't watered enough early on. I rented a power seeder last fall and reseeded myself. Initial growth was good and it seemed to survive the winter fine. Things were going very well until May. The entire back yard went from a gorgeous green to a dark brown in about 2-3 weeks and no matter what I did, nothing helped. The seed I used was a mix of various fescues. I suspect the root cause is a soil problem (compaction, low nutrient, etc.) because I've been told this by others and the soil out there is mostly red clay which has turned very hard and is cracking. Since everyone says not to aerate during hot summer months, what can I do to improve the lawn and/or keep it from dying completely until fall when I can really work on it? Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

[dvmcmrhp52]

Aeration can be done at any time and would do you good.
Water the area VERY well to soften the soil and then aerate,aerate,aerate.
This will loosen the soil, get nutrients and oxygen to the roots and get the water where it is needed rather than having it run off the hard clay soil.

[sheshovel]

Spray paint it green cuz it's already dead by your description

[Guthrie&Co]

apply tons of gypsum. this loosens the clay soil over a period of time, plug the yard. it you feel the need i would apply a surfactant to help break the surface tention of the water down. all 3 things will help you out alot.