You may need to do some soil improvement before planting any sort of lawn. Pretty much any kind of turf grass needs good drainage and a friable soil. And grass seeds tend not to germinate well in winter, regardless of where you are located :-)

This is really not a landscape design issue and you will get very detailed and regional appropriate information if you were to repost in the Lawn Care forum.

Thanks! I will repost there!

Even though it is called "red Georgia clay" it has loam and other soil components so grows decent grass. (I lived in Atlanta for a couple of decades.) Unless the soil is horrible (a construction site) it is usually not amended. Yours looks typical/average. Without irrigation, it will be next to impossible for you to get fescue seed established into turf. It will die as soon as the heat hits. You'll have MUCH better luck with an early fall ground prep and seeding. New sod will need irrigation, too. If the area is not too big, you could irrigate it with a temporary set up (that stays all summer long.) I'd advise that you seed in the early fall as otherwise you're fighting nature and not inclined to succeed. In the meanwhile, you can mulch with straw. It'll be ugly all summer but try not to look at it. You'll need irrigation during the next summer, too, as the new grass (or sod) will not have fully established root systems.

we live in Alabama and have the same clay soil. Hate it!!! That's why Bermuda grass is so popular here. It's practically impossible to kill and it takes off in no time. I used to live a little north of Atlanta and the majority of yards (unless very shady) had Bermuda or some similar grass as well. It just does well on this type soil with the least amount of headache. I would love to have a fescue or blue grass yard, but have been told by multiple landscapers that it is constant maintenance to keep it looking good especially in our very hot summers.....takes a lot more water than Bermuda. So even though it's not in your budget, I think it would be best to bite the bullet and do sod....have your soil conditioned first, and go with a warm climate grass. Good luck!

You don't need sod, but you do need the right species of grass, planted at the right time, with the right soil conditions. I'd go to the library and peruse some good lawn books, ones that address your growing zone and conditions. I haven't had much luck with sod, particularly when the sod soil is different than the soil that it is laid on. That's why seed might be a better option in poor soil. But there's sod and then there's sod, caveat emptor.

i believe bermuda is one of the most common lawn grasses in your area, and you seed bermuda, never sod it, and it comes up quickly with enough moisture, but it likes clay. But if you ever in your lifetime want landscaping, flower beds or vegetable garden, do not plant this type grass. If seeded, it will come up whenever the temperatures warm up a bit. I really really hate bermuda..

Thank you everyone! In an ideal world I would love to wait for seed to take and do things that way. If we did not have a dog that would definitely be our route. We need a somewhat quick resolve for ground cover. I'm not sure what we could do....We don't mind working around this for 2 weeks or so but I don't think we will grass in those 2 weeks. Someone mentioned putting seed down and then straw over the top. Do you all think that could work?

How do you guys feel about hydroseeding?

Did you ever say if you had irrigation? That's what will make the difference in whether seed (or anything) will grow during the Georgia summer. Hydroseeding is just a method of applying seed. It is not a different miracle type of seed. Also, did you see where I mentioned you could use mulch as a temporary cover until conditions are better?