I live in northern Italy,and my lawn lies just on the gentle slope where the Alps join the plain.The soil is 100% clay,save for a 1 foot thick layer of meadow skim deposited on top 30 years ago.The lawn has never been renewed and it looks absolutely rotten.The locals in the village advise me against doing anything saying that it will end up in weeds and tears.In addition to the poor soil,drought is becoming rampant here and I only have a limited reserve (8 cubic meters) of rain water collected in a tank for emergency use.I would like to give it a try anyway.End of september I will have a thorough overhaul of the ground plus a new layer of good soil deposited.Where do I go from here?Lousy soil in underneath,semi-drought conditions,plot part in the sun and part in the shadow of trees.I need advice on the choice of seed (or seed mixes) better suited in this case,and how to mantain such lawn.An added bonus would be a tight network of roots to keep weeds at bay.I've read of "macrothermal" grasses,one of which is the Zoysia,but I have no better idea.Please give me the botanical name of the suggested types,so that I can look for them locally.