Question
James:
We moved into a new home in Central North Carolina recently.  The subdivision is three years old and was a formerly farmland.  Our yard consists of a gray clay that was seeded with fescue by the builder.  Numerous french drains were added to homes in the community because of drainage issues - so we have lots of artificially added rocks as a result of the drains.  The clay in the back seems harder than concrete this summer and most of the grass has died off even with 2x/week watering.  A soil sample showed a high acidity in the soil and I've applied lyme 2x to help with moss/fungus.  I hired someone to aerate/fertilize last fall, but it seems the new fescue seeds did poorly in the hard compacted clay in the spring and have all gone dormant in the heat.  I've read some of your postings about using organic matter and aeration and saw in one posting where you indicated gypsum might not help much. (Gypsum was recommended by a local Scotts employee.) Any thoughts about how to improve the soil condition so that next summer (assuming we get some additional rain) the fescue will perform better in the hard clay?  I plan on aerating again later this month.  Thanks!

Answer
Hi Bob, If there's little or no grass, I'd till it instead of aerating.  The deeper you can loosen the soil, the deeper the root growth which helps it through the summer.  I'd spread about 1/2 inch of coarse sand and an inch of organic matter over the whole area and till it in. Use leaves or grass clippings if you have them or bagged or bulk compost if you have to buy it. If you're going to aerate, sprinkle a light dusting of both on the ground and then aerate.  
Fescue is best planted in September and October, so work quickly. Make sure your pH is around 6.5.
Use a new lawn starter fertilizer when the grass is about an inch high. Fertilizer only twice a year.  Once in September and again in March. Never in the summer.  Mow the grass at 2.5" to 3" high. Apply 2" of water per week in the summer.  Water thoroughly and deeply when you water.
I lived in Charlotte at one time.  Fescue had difficulty surviving the summer heat there.  Bermuda and Zoysia are better suited for sunny areas so you may want to reconsider your choice of grasses.  Even under the best conditions I suspect you'll need to do some reseeding each year.
I would not use gypsum.  Organic matter helps the microbial activity and sand will help separate the soil to give the roots a pathway.  Jim