I have acidic clayey never-cultivated-upon soil in my backyard that I
plan to put a lawn in. It gets hard as rock during the summer and mushy
and sticky during the winter/rains. I plan to amend it with natural
stuff (peat-moss? compost?), till it to a depth of 6 inches, then seed
it. The area gets LOTS of sunshine (north california, sacramento area)
and gets bizarrely hot during the summer - for say a good four months
atleast. If seeding does not work, I may end up sodding it, but first I
want to try seeding.

Any lawn experts out there care to share their insights/thoughts on
such a venture?