Feed The Soil Microbes
Microbes are naturally occurring microorganisms in the soil that strengthen plants and improve soil structures. Without microbes in our soils, we do not have healthy environments for plant growth. Through compost we feed the soil microbes & earthworms that release nutrients, relieving compaction and thatch problems. Microbes play a pivotal role in the soil food web which maintains a natural, healthy diverse eco-system filled with fungus, bacteria and the other beneficial living organisms your plants need for food.
How To Top Dress An Established Lawn
For established lawns that need top dressing, prior to doing so mow low with a rotary mower equipped with a catcher. Aerate or core your lawn, spread the mix evenly over the desired area, then rake, level lawn or broom it into the lawn profile. Never top dress more than 1cm in a single application, making sure the grass tips are still exposed.
Top Dressing A Lawn: How When And Why
by Lauren Schwartz | Jun 11, 2022 | Featured, Yard Tips
If youre not yet top dressing your lawn, youre missing out on a lot. Homes all over Australia are going green over eco-friendly lawn care, and you should, too.
Before rushing to your nearest lawn supply store, there are a few things you need to know so you can top dress your lawn the right way .
Take your lawn from bare and brown to thick and thriving with the best top dressing tips, straight from the lawn experts.
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What Are The Benefits Of Applying A Top Dress To Your Lawn
There are many different benefits to applying topdressing to your lawn or planted areas. Its a natural way to add nutrients and enhance the soil in your yard or property without using chemicals. Adding organic material or compost will replenish the soils nutrients, which can improve the health and appearance of your lawn. Topdressing will also increase moisture retention so that your grass can stay healthy for longer periods during the heat of the summer.
Sometimes areas of land will become uneven due to water runoff from normal watering or heavy rains throughout the year. Adding a layer of topsoil to this area will help to level your yard which will help with future water distribution and make it safer. Additionally, applying topsoil will also help with thatch overgrowth which can affect the air flow and water saturation of the grass or plants root systems.
Top Dressing Your North Texas Lawn In 5 Easy Steps
- Cut your grass as low as possible, after the last frost in the spring, to promote new grass growth
- Have your lawn aerated to reduce soil compaction, aid in nutrient & water absorption, promote turf grass root growth
- Buy compost that contains manure in bags or by the truckload
- Use a wheelbarrow and shovel to haul the compost
- Spread the compost on the lawn, ¼ inch thick, with the backside of a garden rack
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Can I Scarify My Lawn In March
MARCH SCARIFYING IS POSSIBLE IN MARCH As the ground warms, your grass will begin to show signs of growth. Depending on how the weather turns, scarifying in March can be attempted. I would take some soil temperature measurements to make sure that the grass roots are warm enough to be growing well.
When Should You Topdress Your Lawn
Topdressing a lawn involves spreading a thin layer of material such as sand or compost over the grass. When theres a shortage of soil in your yard, which will inadvertently lead to loss of nutrients, the best option is to topdress. Read on to discover how, when, and why you should topdress your lawn.
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What Is The Best Time Of Year To Top Dress Lawn In Texas
The best time of year to top dress lawn in Texas is during the fall season. The cool weather during this time of year is ideal for grass growth, and the top dressing will help the lawn to recover from the summer heat. Top dressing should be done in early fall, before the first frost, to give the grass time to establish itself before winter.
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What Is The Best Material To Use When Top Dressing
Top dressing doesnt have to be a pain in the grass! To top dress your lawn successfully, use a lawn top dressing material thats similar to the consistency of your planting soil. Depending on your turfgrass and the soil composition of your lawn, you can use sand, finely screened compost, topsoil, or a combination of these options.
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Organic Fertilization Of Lawns & Beds
Our awesome fertilization program is simple and works! We feed the soil with beneficial microbes, fungi, humates, and over 100 nutrients. Our fertilizing program includes 4 seasonal Organic lawn fertilization applications using the high-quality, professional-grade Microlife Organic Biological Fertilizers. These products add over 100 minerals, vitamins, billions of beneficial microbes, and beneficial mycorrhizal fungi to the soil. This program works best with at least 1 top dressing of compost per year to add the bulk of Organic matter. For shrubs and landscape beds, we do Spring & Fall fertilization applications.
Top Dressing To Fix Holes Or Uneven Lawn
If your new lawn is a little uneven or has a few gaps, just leave it a couple of months and then if it doesnt fix itself you will need to just lightly fill in those gaps.
Once again, mow your lawn the day prior to applying the top dressing. The longer the grass, the more sand required to cover the area, and as mentioned a deeper layer of soil will make it harder for the grass to grow through it.
For the repair of a hole deeper than 5cm, use a shovel to raise the grass on top of the hole, and place the top dressing underneath to elevate the level of the lawn. Then, apply the top dressing on top of the lawn as per usual to address any remaining unevenness.
TIP: Speak to your local landscape supply company for a recommendation on the amount of loam or sand required for the specific area you need to address.
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Why Do We Need To Top Dress A Lawn
Your lawn needs regular feeding so that the grass grows thick and evenly distributed. Top dressing, when combined with nutrient-rich organic based fertilisers, can be a powerhouse booster for your turf. These are the many benefits that your lawn will get when its top dressed:
- Increases nutrient retention
- Strengthens the turf, reducing pest attacks and diseases
- Improves soil drainage
Pro Tips When Top Dressing Your Lawn
As any lawn owner knows, lawn maintenance can be labour-intensive. If youre in the mood to get down and dirty under the sun, top dressing may just be the thing for you. Here are some more lawn care tips for a successful top dressing:
- Start with spot treating bare patches in your lawn and build on them. The key here is to top dress lightly and gradually. Too much and too frequent top dressing can raise your yard grade and cause soil erosion and water pooling in different areas of your lawn.
- Give your grass growth a leg up by combining top dressing with other cultural practices, such as mowing, overseeding, and regular watering. Youll be rewarded with healthier grass and a thicker lawn after.
- Go green all the way! Use natural fertilisers when enriching your lawn. Just be sure to pick the fertiliser specifically made for lawns grass types. A nitrogen-rich fertiliser , for example, supports a top dressed couch lawn well.
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What Lawns Need Top Dressing
Top dressing is good for all lawns, but some need it more than others.
- New neighborhoods: Builders and developers typically remove any existing native topsoil and replace it with a rock and soil blend that is good for constructing houses but terrible for grass! It helps keep foundations from cracking, but it is sterile and has zero organic matter in it. New yards and lawns struggle for years until the soil slowly improves. Adding compost speeds the process and injects life into new yards.
- Neglected yards and landscapes: If your lawn hasnt been top dressed or fertilized in a decade, the soil will be in horrible shape. Typically, the grass gets thin, the soil becomes brick hard, and worms are nowhere to be seen. Top Dressing will help kick the natural processes back into gear and get everything growing again.
- Stressed or damaged lawns: Improving the soil will help improve the health of the lawn overall. Its the equivalent to hot chicken soup when youre sick. If your lawn isnt in the best health, top dressing can help.
Beware Top Dressing Incorrectly Can Kill Your Lawn
Sep 18, 2019 | Lawn Care Tips and Articles, Lawn Maintenance Tips, Seasonal Lawn Care, Weeds, Pests & Problems
Top dressing has benefits such as helping nutrient retention, helping level uneven lawns, and helping with drainage and decreasing thatch build up.
We are often advised here at Cobbitty Lawn Turf, that our customers have been told You have to top dress your lawn!
This isnt always the case.
If your lawn had all its preparation completed correctly, with adequate and level soil underneath and you have fertilised well then you wont need to top dress.
Though, keep in mind that top dressing does have benefits such as helping nutrient retention and helping to level uneven lawns, while also helping with drainage and decreasing thatch build up.
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Lawn Top Dressing Service Near Me
By now, you have probably decided you are ready to tackle the labor-intensive job of spreading that top dressing across your lawn, or you are ready to call in the professionals. If you prefer a turn-key top-dressing service, we have recommended Earth Kind Services located in Denton for quite a few years. They are focused on composting, providing delivery as well as spreading compost on your lawn.
At Weedex, we consider our customers to be our first priority in every situation, We care about your lawn, and we want to see it thrive season after season!
Give us a call to get personalized feedback on your unique lawn! Our basic lawn care treatment program will also addweed control and fertilization to your yard in timely applications throughout the year. We also provide core aeration service, grub control, and other specialty lawn care services. We take pride in caring for your lawn, and as always, we guarantee satisfaction. Like we always say, greener lawn, happier you!
Our services take care of all your weed control and fertilization needs. Every five to seven weeks, our expert lawn care technicians will come out and service your lawn with the best treatments available. We take the guesswork out of yard work!
Our lawn care service treatments always include timely visits at each key points in the changing seasons. We will apply the best fertilizers for your North Texas lawn while keeping weeds in check and under control.
Why Does Compaction And Soil Matter To Your Lawns Health
Your lawn is like an iceberg.
- The top layer is your lawn
- The bottom layer is the soil below the surface.
- Your soil and roots should be deeper than your grass is tall. In most Central Texas lawns, youll be hard-pressed to find that sort of soil structure.
So, what can we do for better soil structure? In order to add to the organic layer of your soil and stimulate the soils natural properties, youll need annual topdressing and aeration.
If done effectively, topdressing and aeration will deeply replenish the soil and naturally start to repair itself.
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How Do I Apply Topsoil To My Lawn In Texas
It is late fall and you want to give your lawn one last feeding before the winter sets in. Applying topsoil is a great way to give your lawn the nutrients it needs to stay healthy and green through the winter.
The first thing you need to do is test your soil to see what nutrients it is lacking. You can do this by taking a small sample of soil to your local nursery or garden center. They will test it for you and tell you what amendments you need to add to the soil.
Once you have the results of your soil test, you can go ahead and purchase the amendments and topsoil. Topsoil is sold by the yard or by the bag. Be sure to get enough to cover the entire lawn.
Now it is time to apply the topsoil. The best way to do this is with a lawn spreader. This will ensure an even distribution of the soil.
Topsoil should be applied at a depth of about 1/2 inch. Be sure to rake the topsoil into the thatch layer of the lawn. This will help the topsoil to mix in with the existing soil and provide nutrients to the roots of the grass.
Water the lawn lightly after applying the topsoil. This will help to settle the soil and prevent it from blowing away.
Now your lawn is ready for winter! The topsoil will provide the nutrients the grass needs to stay green and healthy through the cold months.
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Top Dressing Lawn Considerations
When top-dressing your lawn, the proper mixture must be prepared for your specific lawns needs. Not all lawns will have the same requirements and that is one reason why it is a good idea to use a lawn maintenance company to do this work for you.
Top dressing done improperly can make matters much worse for your lawn. But the benefits, if done properly, are substantial. Top dressing can smooth out a lumpy, bumpy yard making it a pleasure to play in again. Putting greens are routinely top dressed to keep a nice playing surface. Top dressing also helps reduce thatch, helps your lawn recover from injury and disease and helps conserve water which is so important here in the Austin Cedar Park Leander Round Rock area.
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A Primer On Central Texas Soil
Austin area soils are famous for their poor quality. Ask any avid local gardener, and they will give you a list of their soil woes. Ultimately it comes down to the fact that we have very little soil, the soil we do have is rocky, and its full of clay.
This poor soil is hard on lawns. There is a huge list of things lawns need to be happy, but several of the big items are sunlight, air, water, and nutrients. Soil quality can have a big impact on three of these four items. Plants absorb water, nutrients, and even air through their roots. As a consequence, soil quality can have the biggest impact on the health of your lawn.
A good soil will have a lot of organic matter in it to provide nutrients, will have the capacity to hold water, and will also be able to drain well so the soil can dry out. A soils ability to do those three things is impacted by the type of soil and the soil structure.
Central Texas Soil Types:
There are three main types of inorganic material that all soils are made of. These particles are called clay, silt, and sand. Clay is the smallest particle size, and is sticky the chemicals that form clay bond to things easily. Silt is only slightly larger than clay but doesnt bind to things like clay does. Sand is the largest particle of the three, and drains very well and resists compaction. An ideal mix is called loam, and is a mixture of all three in roughly equal proportions. Combining loam with organic material creates the perfect soil.
Because our soil consists of mostly clay, with very little organic material, it doesnt drain very well and has very few nutrients. The clay binds with water as soon as your irrigation kicks on. The top layer of soil will saturate quickly, preventing water from soaking deep into the soil. If you continue to add water, it will run off the soil rather than soak in. This is one reason we are so prone to flooding in our area.
The clay also binds to nutrients like fertilizers, but it binds in such a way that those nutrients arent available for plants to use . Clay also binds to itself to create a compacted layer of soil that excludes air and is difficult for roots to grow through. On a hot summer day in Austin the soil can often feel harder than concrete.
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When Should You Have Lawn Top Dressing Services Done
The ideal time to apply topdressing is when the soil is warm, but its not too hot or dry. This means that spring and fall are the best times of year to topdress your lawn in the New Braunfels area. If the soil is really compacted, A& A will provide aeration services to loosen up the dirt prior to applying the topdressing. This will ensure that the new soil, compost, organic material will penetrate the existing soil. Its very important to apply the correct amount of material on top of your grass or plants, because adding too much could lead to suffocating the existing growth.
For best results, its good to apply topdressing annually to keep your soil healthy. Our team of professionals at A& A Lawn Care have years of experience determining the right amount of topdressing and when to apply it to your lawn or property. Contact us today to set up your free consultation!