Bring Your Lawn Back To Life
Another excellent reason to top dress your lawn is to introduce organic rich topsoil which will in turn build your turf. We use an all organic, weed free, and disease free compost mix. When you order our topdressing service you can have confidence knowing youre getting the best.
With the bulk of growth occurring in the spring, plus an abundance of rain, May is the time to build your soil and ensure its ready to support a lush lawn. Dont wait until its too late during the heat of summer to improve your lawn. Now is the time to take action and love your lawn again.
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What Does Lawn Top Dressing Do
Top dressing does not just improve the look of your lawn, but can also benefit the health of the grass too. It allows you to maintain a true and level lawn surface by filling in any imperfections or hollow areas to create a smooth surface. It also helps to dilute thatch layers, assisting in their natural breakdown and preventing them from building up.
For lawns that suffer from water logging a sand based top dressing applied after aeration can improve the drainage and firm the surface as a preventative. Alternatively for lawns with the opposite issue, where drought is a problem, the same method can be applied but using a peat top dressing instead of sand.
The addition of nutrients being introduced from some of the dressing materials can also contribute to improving the fertility of the lawn, encouraging the production of fresh healthy shoots and improving the soil structure of the existing root zone.
How To Top Dress Your Lawn
Top dressing, sometimes referred to as compost top dressing, is a common practice to improve the health of your lawn. For a lush lawn, take a tip from golf course turf pros and add top dressing to your lawn maintenance schedule.
Top dressing is the process of adding a thin layer of nutrient-rich compost to your lawn, or parts of your lawn that need extra attention. When performed routinely and with aeration, the soil will improve and your turf will benefit.
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Top Dressing A Lawn: The Benefits And How To Do It
Upon first thought, it seems somewhat absurd to spread a layer of compost or sand over your grass. After all, dirt is supposed to be under the grass. This is what topdressing is, though, and its a great thing to periodically do for your lawn.
Topdressing a lawn is accomplished by spreading a thin layer of material such as compost or sand over the grass. This practice has been observed since golf was first invented in Scotland and is gaining popularity with homeowners looking for organic lawn care strategies.
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Suggested Uses For Eko Lawn Top Dressing New Lawns
EKO Lawn Top Dressing is a great medium for covering newly seeded lawns.
Established Lawns
EKO Lawn Top Dressing is a great medium for improving established lawns and revitalizing pet spots and compacted areas. EKO Lawn Top Dressing will improve the color, thickness and overall health of your turf.
Recommended Application Amounts: Newly Seeded Lawns
Amount to Apply: When used as a seed cover, apply EKO Lawn Top Dressing at a ½ depth after spreading grass seed, and water according to instructions on grass seed packaging.
Established Lawns
Amount to Apply: To achieve best results, aerate lawn before spreading. Apply EKO Lawn Top Dressing to your established lawn at a ½ depth. Rake EKO Lawn Top Dressing to a smooth, level covering. Water after spreading.
| Bags of EKO Lawn Top Dressing | Area |
| ½ |
Newly Seeded Lawns
When to Apply: EKO Lawn Top Dressing may be applied both before and/or after planting grass seed. When planting grass seed or when sodding, it is important that the area be prepared before planting. Preparing the soil before planting will result in:
- Improved root growth of the turf
All of the aforementioned is based upon using a high quality amendment that is incorporated into the top 6 of your soil.
Established Lawns
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Topdressing After Dethatching Renovating And Aerating
You could say that topdressing is like dressing a wound. When a lawn is stressed because of moss removal or the soil was aerated, topdressing will help it heal.
- Dethatching, usually associated to moss removal, is the fact of breaking up the layer of lint that forms after repeated mowing. Blades of grass fall but dont decompose fast enough. Soil suffocates and only moss keeps growing. Also called scarification.
- Lawn renovation is a set of steps that helps rebuild an old or damaged lawn.
- Aerating the soil means pulling out plugs at close intervals or walking around with nail-equipped shoes. It breaks the crust and helps air and water trickle in.
- Reseeding the lawn or overseeding spreading new seeds for a more dense, lush lawn. This is either with the same grass as earlier, or because youd like to introduce a new type of grass. In the end, the variety most suited to the area will win over.
Note: if youre adding new lawn seeds:
- during maintenance topdressing spread seeds first, before topdressing
- during regenerative topdressing spread seeds after spreading the topdressing but before raking it down
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How To Top Dress A Lawn And Benefits Of Top Dressing
Topdressing is a process of applying fertilizer or other organic material directly onto the surface of the ground. It can be done by hand with shovels or spreaders, but its most commonly accomplished using an aerator-type machine that spreads the product evenly over the turf. The goal of topdressing is to provide nutrients for healthy growth while also improving water retention and drainage.
Adding material to the grass is called top dressing. In a throwing action, 1/3 to 1/2 inch of compost is spread across the lawn using shovels. It is possible to work the material down into the thatch layer by raking, washing it in with rain or sprinklers, and then allowing it to settle on its own. It is a labor-intensive activity, and this may be the reason for its lack of popularity. For a device that is rarely used, motorized top-dressers and compost spreaders are the most expensive machines.
It is sometimes reluctantly offered by lawn care companies since they dont have a large profit margin, and it is seen as a labor-intensive annoyance. Consumers are starting to learn the advantages of topdressing and asking for the service from lawn care pros as they become more sensitive to issues surrounding chemical lawn care. People are learning how to do it their own way.
It doesnt make sense to spread compost or sand over your grass. The grass is supposed to hold dirt. Its a great thing to do on a regular basis, and this is what topdressing is.
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Why You Should Top Dress A Lawn
As mentioned above, top dressing a lawn has many benefits. So heres why you should add it to your lawn maintenance routine:
- Topdressing helps keep the lawns surface levelled. This is done by filling all of the smaller hollows and undulations with the topdressing mix, thus levelling the lawn surface.
- Topdressing your lawn regularly helps prevent the buildup of thatch. Topdress can dilute the thatch layer and is also known to naturally break it down.
- Using sand based topdressing can improve your soils drainage and firm up the surface. This works particularly well after aeration as the topdressing can be worked into the soil through the holes left behind.
- Spreading peat-based topdressing can improve the drought tolerance of your lawn.
- Some topdressing mixtures contain nutrients so applying them can improve your lawn’s fertility.
- Topdressing helps stimulate grass growth in lawns and betters the soil structure of the already existing root zone.
- Improves the lawns resilience.
Smart Tip About Lawn Topdress
Dont splurge to buy equipment right immediately. Practice by hand on a small area first to get a feel of how it should go.
Then, ask around your neighborhood, someone almost certainly has the equipment for rent or for borrowing. Since its only needed every three years or so, it often isnt worth purchasing at all.
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Select Your Preferred Purchase Method
- Safe for all soils and lawns including Buffalo
- Contains high-quality raw ingredients to help ensure top quality lawn care
- Slow-release feeding with balanced nutrients and trace elements for a strong healthy lawn without burning
- Treated with Seasol GOLD to boost overall lawn health and aid rapid recovery
- An added wetting agent helps water get to where the lawn needs it, in the root system
What Should I Top Dress My Lawn With
When looking to top-dress your lawn you first have to ask yourself what it is you are trying to achieve. In most cases, top dressing is undertaken to correct poor soil preparation, improve deteriorated soil quality or permeability, or to fill in low spots and correct uneven areas in the lawn. If your lawn is well fertilised, healthy and even, then itâs likely you donât need to worry about top dressing.
Top dressing brings many benefits to a lawn that is looking a little lacklustre, including helping to reduce the accumulation of dead grass clippings and stems, known as âthatchâ. It helps to increase nutrient retention, improves drainage and increases disease and pest resistance.
Top dressing should only be completed during the growing season and the earlier in the season the better. Generally, late spring to early summer is best.
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Benefits Of Top Dressing
The benefits of top dressing far outweigh the hassle, in our opinion! We know that applying top dressing is a bit of work, but doing so will help your green grass thrive!
Some of the benefits of top dressing your lawn include achieving thicker, greener grass by adding nourishment to poor soil and essentially feeding your turf the organic matter it craves. Mmm, compost delicious!
When you step out onto your lawn, you dont want to be getting poked in the feet with dry, thin grass. You certainly dont want to see brown patch lawn fungus or root rot creeping in to take over your turf! Top dressing can be an eective part of the solution for all of these problems and more.
Picture a beautiful day. The sun is shining, birds are chirping, and you open up the front door, letting a burst of cool, fresh air inside. Beautiful, thick, green grass stretches out like a blanket over your lawn. You take a step out, coee cup in hand, and feel nothing but thick, soft grass beneath your feet. Maybe your dog is running through the backyard, for once not getting covered in mud, because there are no dirt patches to be seen.
What a lovely scene this is, right?
At Weedex, we would love to help you make that scene a reality! We understand that your lawn is a part of your life. You see your yard every day, and it can either bring stress or peace.
As Part Of Your Lawn Care Regime
Its also in autumn that youd typically, rake, scarify and aerate your lawn.
Normally youd overseed and fertilise your lawn after these kinds of treatments to help it recover as quickly as possible.
Top dressing is best done after raking/scarification and aeration but before overseeding and fertilising. So you might plan to do all of this in a day and the process would look something like this.
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Consider The Ph Of Your Soil
Ideally, youd choose a soil that is as close to the pH of the soil on your lawn as possible, or, something that will improve it.
So test your soil with a soil testing kit first.
pH ranges from 1 to 14 . Grass likes soil to be between ph 5.5 and 7.
Ornamental grasses like bents and fescues prefer slightly more acidic soil while broader leaf grasses like ryegrasses and meadow grasses prefer a more neutral pH of around 6.5.
Topdressing To Improve Levels
For a top-dressing material for level improvement, we recommend a washed sand such as USGA Sand or Washed Pit Sand. It is generally easier to screed and level due to the low clay and silt content and reduces the likelihood of the surface crusting and become hydrophobic.
If you are wanting a really flat lawn surface and intend to mow your turf variety quite short, then straight sand is the go. Just be sure that within your broader lawn maintenance schedule that you include the addition of fertilisers and nutrients that your lawn needs. Lawns that are cut shorter will generally require additional inputs to help them perform at an optimum level.
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Helpful Top Dressing Lawn Tips
Before you begin top dressing, remember:
- When exactly to start top dressing your lawn .
- To test for soil pH, as pH affects nutrient uptake. If the pH is off, the grass will not be able to effectively absorb nutrients.
You should also aerate your core. Here’s why and how:
- Dethatch or core aerate your work area if you’ve got more than 1/2-inch of thatch. Make sure you remove any grass clippings and debris before top dressing your lawn.
- Core aerate your lawn if you’ve got poor soil. Clay soil and sandy soil are examples where core aeration is generally recommended.
- Make sure you keep your soil damp if you’re spreading seed on top of your fertilizer. Damp soil, not wet soil, is ideal.
- Keep kids and pets away from your lawn when top dressing, as it’s a messy project.
Your Own Top Dressing Mix
Customising your own lawn top dressing soil is another option. One reason why lawn owners create their own mix is because it is more economical. Combining different materials also ensures that your top dressing mix is well-balanced.
The most popular combination has compost as the base, which is then blended well with either sand or topsoil. A combination of sand and soil for top dressing is effective in preventing puddling on your lawn, which can lead to grass decay.
How to make your own lawn top dressing mix
If youd rather not go with store-bought, you certainly can make your own lawn top dressing mix. Simply add 3 parts soil, 6 parts sand, and 1 part compost. Mix evenly and you have your own homemade top dressing material, ready for use. Consider adding Humic acid or AgriPlus granules to the mix for improved results.
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Big Benefits Of Top Dressing
Top dressing your lawn has several benefits
Helps to Create a Smooth Surface
If you have any undulations or low spots in your lawn, top-dressing can help to smooth them out.
Dont expect it to repair big divots or hollows in your lawn though. If your lawnmower bumps and bangs through low spots while cutting the grass you should remove the turf, add additional material to the soil and then re-lay the sod.
Helps in Controlling Lawn Thatch
When you top dress a lawn with good a high-quality mix, you introduce micro-organisms back into the soil. These help in the decomposition of organic material like dead grass roots, old clippings and other matter that causes lawn thatch to build up.
Improves the Soil Structure
Repeated applications of a sandy, loamy top dressing mixture to a heavy soil will improve the soil structure over time. Especially after hollow-tine aeration.
This will help to add nutrients back into the soil, improve drainage and reduce the chances of fungal infections like Lichens Red Thread, Pink Patch, Fusarium Patch and Snow Mould.
Likewise, adding a loam mix to a dry, sandy soil will help it to retain moisture. This in turn helps to break down nutrients and aid grass growth.
Improves Germination and Growth When Overseeding
Treatments like scarification and aeration are invasive so you should always spread new grass seed after to help the lawn recover.
Lawn Top Dressing: What Why When And How To Top Dress Your Lawn
Top dressing is one of those lawn treatments normally undertaken by more serious lawnsmiths. The ones who wont accept anything less than perfection.
Its also carried out by greenkeepers who look after bowling greens and golf courses.
If youre not particularly green-fingered and you wouldnt consider your lawn to be your pride and joy, then top dressing probably isnt for you . Its hard work and can be expensive.
However, if you love your lawn and youre in the pursuit of perfection, read on.
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Benefits Of Using Eko Lawn Top Dressing:
- Adds organic matter to your soil, which will improve the soil structure, encouraging root growth and thickening your turf
- Revitalizes lawns without reseeding where root systems are still intact
- Rebuilds pet spots and compacted areas
- Fortifies established lawns, especially after aeration
- Builds thicker, lusher lawns
- Produces vibrant green color, organically
- Fine-screened for easy spreading
- Ready-to-use on all varieties of grass
What Makes A Good Lawn Top Dressing
A good top dressing material for lawns should have a mix of sand, peat, and loam soil. These components are the closest to soils natural composition and can be easily incorporated into your soil. However, the nature of the soil in your yard may require a specific type of top dressing.
Sand, for example, is a great topdressing material for a bumpy lawn. It smoothens and levels the ground while improving the soils drainage, which gives a big boost to the growth of grass.
On the other hand, peat acidifies the soil and prevents worm infestation. High-quality loam soil encourages the growth of grass when used as a top dressing material for slow-growing grass.
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