I think the description of soil is about right, set like concrete. Even raking it is hard going. The weed control was not to stop weeds but to try and prevent the shingle from rising through the soil whilst allowing it to drain. I had considered removing some of the soil and mixing something better quality in with it. Had i realised what it would be like i would have plumped for a better quality soil in the first place.
I recommend renting an aerator machine and running over the spot, and the rest of your lawn, but focused on that spot. Then get a few bags of spent mushroom compost or such to fill in the holes poked. Then this fall plant with some thuggish grass types that do well in that soil.. that you are happy to have spread into the rest of your lawn.
I have dug over a few of spots within the large patch, i have added sharp sand to one, compost to another and nothing to the third then seeded them to see which, if any will grow. The soil is horrible and quite difficult to break up. The rest of the soil on the entire lawn does look just as bad although the grass looks to be in good condition. I am seriously considering removing some of the soil, breaking the entire lawn up with a rotavator or similar and then mixing either some better soil or sand in to bring the level back up.
If the soil is becoming hard and cracked in dry weather, then it's a clay. It needs organic matter to improve it. Whether you feel inclined to rotovate it all and add manure, then do the levelling and raking process etc before re seeding will depend on how you feel about making the lawn better. Clay is an excellent medium for all sorts of things, including grass, but it requires a bit of help. In wet areas it doesn't drain well, in dry areas it cracks. Well rotted manure helps with both. Sand can be useful for drainage in wet areas - but it has to be the right kind. The wrong stuff makes things worse. You need a gritty, coarse sand, not building sand which is the stuff for making mortar.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
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The weed control was not to stop weeds but to try and prevent the shingle from rising through the soil whilst allowing it to drain.
I had considered removing some of the soil and mixing something better quality in with it. Had i realised what it would be like i would have plumped for a better quality soil in the first place.
The soil is horrible and quite difficult to break up.
The rest of the soil on the entire lawn does look just as bad although the grass looks to be in good condition.
I am seriously considering removing some of the soil, breaking the entire lawn up with a rotavator or similar and then mixing either some better soil or sand in to bring the level back up.
Clay is an excellent medium for all sorts of things, including grass, but it requires a bit of help. In wet areas it doesn't drain well, in dry areas it cracks. Well rotted manure helps with both.
Sand can be useful for drainage in wet areas - but it has to be the right kind. The wrong stuff makes things worse. You need a gritty, coarse sand, not building sand which is the stuff for making mortar.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...