Question
I know your expertise is in the Northeast, but I thought you might be able to help me here in Kansas City.  I have been struggling with my lawn since I moved in 3 years ago. I bought the house new and one of the things that I liked was the builder had fully sodded the grass and because I have 2 Labs I didn't want to struggle to get new grass established.  Then came the problems.  Had a flooding problem in the backyard due to improper grading and had the builder come in and dig a french drain in the backyard and kill most of the grass in the process.  My dogs stay outside all the time so I grabbed a bag of K31 grass seed that a friend gave me and put it down with straw and watered alot.  I got green out of it, but alot of weeds and bare spots due to the grass not being established enough to take the abuse.  My soil is heavy on the clay, knowing this from having to dig into it to put up a fence.  It gets PLENTY of sunlight and gets alot of moisture due to the drainage of neighbors yards.  Any way, what do you recommend in my situation to get a decent yard established. I like the idea of the organic method as it is safer for me and my animals.  I am not looking for miracles due to the dogs ruling the yard, but I know I can have ALOT better than I currently have.  Thank you in advance.

Answer
Your problems are compacted Clay soil and traffic traffic traffic, my friend.  Your sun is a blessing. It makes this a lot easier.

Let's talk first about the "K31".

K31 is one of the original Tall Fescues.  It has a bunch-type growth habit.  It's the best dog traffic Grass I know.  This is Grass you can play football on.  If it can take cleats, it can take paws and Nikes.

In the olden days, Kentucky 31 was the answer to everything.   But it was not a pretty Grass.  Newer Tall Fescues are much improved in appearance compared with the old Kentucky 31.  'Rebel' and newer varieties would place in the top 5 of any lawn beauty contest, and they are tough.  Tall Fescue will take shade, but it prefers sun.  There's only one potential problem with Tall Fescue.  It may not like your weather.  Since you already have it in the garage, it's worth trying.  

Your neighbors may be growing this, or another variety, right now and it may be doing fine.  See how it goes.  You should re-seed Tall Fescue every 2 years or so to keep it in tiptop shape.  Use K31 to get started.  When you overseed, get a new, improved variety -- you'll see several on the internet, and they are magnificent.  Remember, this is Tall Fescue -- NOT Kentucky 31 Bluegrass.

Now, if you need a cold-weather Grass, some newer Kentucky Bluegrasses may solve your problem.

Since you love your dogs, of course you don't want them to come in contact with any Agent Orange or other weed killer.  You want to build up your soil, so that when your Grass is planted, your lawn can take whatever you and your best friends will dish out.  And since I have dogs too, believe me, I know what you're going to need.

Let's talk about your Clay soil.

As you may know if you have read anything I've written here, I am a big fan of Clay.  People will tell you to aerate Clay every year or so, they'll tell you to replace it with Topsoil, run over it with spiky shoes, they'll light candles for you, they'll give you all kinds of silly information.  Clay is absolutely terrific.  It's not perfect.  All you have to do is make it perfect.  And you can do that.

We don't have space here to go into how almost-perfect Clay is -- allExperts edits these and tends to wreck some of my too-long paragraphs, this is a website built for short and direct replies.  We've already broken that rule.  Let's just say that your soil is missing two things: Air and Tilth.

Air is packed with Oxygen and Nitrogen.  Your Grass needs both.  But the best Grass gets them from microbes.  And microbes HAVE GOT to breathe.

Most people think, Ah ha!  I'll just put some Air down there!  I'll Core Aerate!  That'll break up this Clay and air-rate my soil!

Not so fast.

Pulverizing Clay is the WORST thing you can do to Clay soil.  This is exactly what you would do to build a parking lot.  When you add water to pulverized Clay powder, you get bricks.  You need that like a hole in the head.

Tilth.  That's what gets air into soil.

'Tilth' is Clay plus Organic Matter.  'Organic Matter' is decaying plants, mostly -- - Sugars, Starches, some kinds of Proteins -- and it represents a gourmet dinner for soil microbes.

You know soil microbes have come to dinner because they decompose things.  Good Fungi. Good Bacteria.  They feed your soil.  It will be building up your Clay, enriching it big time, waiting for the roots of your new Grass.  And your Grass is going to love it.

So we really do want to add Organic Matter to that Clay.

That's easy.  That's why we have Green Manure.  Clover, Alfalfa, Wheatgrass, can be a Green Manure.  Specialized Cover Crops that put nutrients and organic matter into your soil, and make space for Oxygen-loving microbes.  That's what you need.

I know, I know.  People used to think, Ah ha!  I'll break up my Clay soil with Gypsum!

Truth is, Gypsum won't fix Clay soil unless it has a high level of Sodium.

Run over to your local farm supplier and get your hands on some Green Manure.  Whatever they have, take it.  Not Manure.   GREEN Manure.

When you get home, 'till in -- ROUGHLY -- Humus and/or Compost.  And plant your Green Manure right on top of that.  Leave the backyard alone for a month.

Grow your Green Manure all summer long.  In autumn, you can turn it under -- ROUGHLY, so you don't upset the Earthworms -- and seed your K31 Tall Fescue lawn.

If you can't stand the thought of leaving the yard alone, try doing half the yard.  A quarter of the yard.  You're making earthenware Clay pots back there in the summer, with the mud mixing with the water, compacting and drying up.  There's no easier way -- and this is not so bad.  That's the price we pay for Clay.  But those minerals, if you unlock them, are worth their weight in gold.

If you want me to elaborate on anything here, write me a followup or another question and I can go into more detail.  

Let me know how it goes.  Thanks for writing.