Rome wasn't built in a day. You have to wait a few years for your grass to mature and establish and also refrain from encouraging shallow rooting so that it's drought tolerance potential is realized.

On the positive side, it is still alive isn't it? How good do you expect grass to look without rain in the peak of summer heat? Be patient and plant some trees for afternoon shade.

If you seeded it in spring, then that's your first problem. Seed it now if you want sturdy turf in the summer.

Any grass you grow should be left as tall as possible during drought. Would you consider seeding in an even distribution of Dutch white clover? You don't have to mow it if you don't want to as it stop growing at about 5 inches at the tallest. What is the area used for?

Some further notes about what I do:

I seeded in the Fall. I cut to a height of 3.5 - 4 1/8 inches depending on how long its gotten. I try not to cut off more than 1/3 of the grass height, so that means I wait until it is about 5-6.5 inches tall to cut. I water deeply to encourage deep root growth. I can't really plant more trees in this area. You can actually see the area where the existing trees don't quite cover the grass, because there are fairly well defined transition lines from green to yellow where there is no shade. I just figured the grass should be able to make it 5-6 days without turning to straw. Some of the areas are definitely dead bare earth...not just dormant. The area isn't used much for anything, but I don't want clover.

So here's what I'm thinking:

1. I know the soil under the grass is crap. Rocky hard stuff. Would regular application of corn meal (which I still need to find in my area) act to enrich and soften the underlying soil so that the roots can grow deeper?

2. My soil analysis said I was way too acidic. I've not been able to apply lime to these areas as I always seem to be renovating them when its time to lime. Could high acidity affect drought tolerance?

3. Will repeated overseeding and deep watering eventually get the grass established enough to make it through the summer?

4. Would that Scotts seed work? How does KBG work in extreme sun?

If it were me, I'd work on improving my soil prior to trying any more seed varieties. If the soil is bad, you'll be constantly battling it to get something to grow. I'd compost and do a light tilling, if possible, to work it all in, right along with the lime. Would annual ryegrass work in your area just to hold the soil through the winter?

In spring, I'd compost again and retest the soil before seeding. You might add a thin layer of compost for a couple of years to get your soil improved.

You might also consult a local sod farm - emphasis on "local." When we lived in MD ages ago, we were able to buy the seed blend the sod farm used to grow sod for our area. It was phenomenal - probably because it was specially selected and blended to do very, very well in our area.

I don't think I have the heart to start tilling and planting Rye grass on that hill. The sod farm seed is a good idea though. Where was the sod farm you used?

I still haven't heard any opinions on KBG...doesn't it spread into the dead areas.

Don't waste your money on cornmeal. Just aerate the lawn and overseed. You can try another variety if you want but like Sandradee said, soil that is very hard and compacted in full sun is hard to grow grass on. You can't expect it to be green and lush the first year. This is life in the transition zone with full sun and compacted clay. You could till everything up but that is not without serious consequences.

Hmmmm, taxing my memory here. The sod farm was Middleton Manor????? It was east of Waldorf on Hwy 5, I think. They used to have a landscape/nursery business too but had stopped doing retail on that in 2005, I think.

Only took about 10 minutes to get there from Waldorf...we actually lived west of Waldorf, so it took us a good bit longer to get there. There's another nursery on the other side of the highway just beyond this one, but they don't grow sod. The sod farm we did business with was on the north side of the highway (left side) as you're travelling east of Waldorf.

There was a sod farm in Waldorf, or just west of it, on Hwy 228, but that was not the one we used.

Hope this helps.