How Do I Figure Out How Much Topsoil I Need
If you need to fill a raised bed or install a berm, measure the area’s square footage and depth to estimate how many cubic feet of topsoil you’ll need. To spread over a garden bed, youâll want enough to give you at least a 2-inch layer. To install a new lawn, plan to spread a layer of 3-6 inches of topsoil before sowing seed or laying sod, depending on the quality of your existing soil.
When And How Often Should You Apply Top Dressing
Top dressing can be applied any time and however often you want, however, it is most effective when paired with other beneficial lawn care services such as aeration, dethatching, and overseeding. Aeration opens up the soil, allowing the seeds from overseeding to drop down deep into your lawns soil where they can germinate and flourish. Topdressing then settles down into these holes and covers the seeds deep inside, protecting them from surface disturbances and provides the seeds with extra nutrients needed to grow. Early spring is the best time to perform these services to give your lawn an extra boost for the rest of the growing season.
Top Dress With Compost
Spread compost on your aerated yard at a rate of 1 cubic yard per 1,000 square feet of lawn. This will provide a layer of compost between 0.25 and 0.33 inches thick. This amount of compost is perfect for feeding and protecting your new grass seed without smothering existing grass.
- Use 1 cubic yard of compost per 1,000 square feet of yard.
- Spread the compost evenly, making sure it does not bury or smother existing grass.
- The compost will naturally fill the holes left by aerationthis is like injecting fertilizer right into your lawn.
Keep in mind, compost breaks down quickly. Although the compost may have a strong smell now and make your lawn seem dirty, in a few weeks all youll see are beautiful new grass seedlings springing up in your existing grass.
Read Also: Trugreen Lawn Care Cost
How To Help The Garden Grow Faster
If the garden is delayed in its growth rate or falling behind, a few techniques can be tried to help strengthen the soil. Those who want to get experimental and test the effects of growing fruits and vegetables at a faster rate while enhancing the flower garden can use these tips to increase the power of the topsoil!
Some tips to help the garden grow faster are:
- Dont Forget about Mulch Mulch is an excellent resource to assist in eliminating weeds, and it helps to retain moisture in the soil. That moisture leads to further heat retention, which aids in the growth process and nutrient-production in soil.
- Add Nutrients The primary nutrients gardens need are phosphorus, potassium, and nitrogen. Whether its topsoil, compost, fertilizer, or any other growth-enhancers used, be sure to offer the garden the critical nutrients that it requires to flourish. It is good to use the 6-12-6-rule on ingredients that say that gardeners should seek a balance of 6% nitrogen, 12% phosphorus, and 6% potassium.
- Utilize Rainwater Keep buckets out to catch the rain and preserve water. This will help any gardeners energy usage and bill while also making the most of the resources available! Rainwater is often the cleanest option along with the cheapest, with BBG.org stating, The quality of rainwater is unsurpassed when it comes to watering plants and landscapes.
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.
Read Also: Corn Speedwell Weed
When Is The Best Time To Top Dress
The best time to top dress your lawn is when it is actively growing and you are heading into prime growing conditions.
For cool season grasses late summer/early fall is best.
You hear a lot of talk about fall being a good time to seed your lawn, but in colder climates you have to be careful. In some regions if you wait until fall, the soil temperatures will likely be too cool for germination.
For warm season grasses the best time to top dress is early summer. This is when warm season grasses begin to take off.
How To Apply Topsoil On The Lawn
The definition of top dressing is simply applying a layer of topsoil on the grass but it is not as simple as it seems. The ordinary do-it-yourselfer could do it, but it is still better to have it done professionally, or at least consult with the professional whenever possible.
For those who want to try it our for themselves, here is a guide on how to apply topsoil to the lawn.
Recommended Reading: Gnat Repellent For Yard
Topdressing A Home Lawn
Factsheet | HGIC 1227 | Sep 30, 2020 |
With the expansion of residential landscapes in the US, the number of homeowners interested in learning how to start and maintain a healthy lawn has increased. Bare soil is usually easier to work with when improving the soil for lawn preparation. Improving the soil in an established lawn can be a little more difficult, but it is possible.
South Carolina soils range from heavy clays in the Upstate to sandy soils from the Midlands to the Lowcountry. Additionally, many South Carolina soils have been poorly managed and damaged through construction activities or agricultural overuse. Regardless of the soil type, most of the soils in SC are highly weathered, eroded, and contain little organic matter. Common soil quality issues include:
- Very low soil pH, except along the coast
- Soil compaction and thus poor soil aeration
- Poor soil structure
- Reduced water holding capacity in sandy soils
- Excessive water saturation in clay soils
- Low organic matter content
- Low cation exchange capacity or ability to hold onto nutrients
- Low nutrient availability
Topdressing materials may include topsoil, composted organic matter, or sand, depending on why the topdressing is needed. Historically, sports turf managers have used topdressing to level and smooth playing surfaces. However, landscapers and homeowners now employ topdressing as a management tool to promote healthy turfgrass.
Plant And Let It Grow
Now, let nature take its course! Water the lawn often and follow the guidelines of each specific flower, fruit, and vegetable planted, as each will vary. A cactus may only need to be watered around three to five times a month, while a cucumber plant may need closer to eight watering sessions per month.
Understand what is growing and what it needs, aiming to plant produce that requires similar watering schedules and nutrients next to each other.
Now that you understand the process from start to finish, the next sections will be guidance on picking the healthiest and safest materials, avoiding pesticides and ways to encourage garden growth!
Read Also: Hydromulch Diy
Planning & Preparation For Top Dressing
If you have thin or bare areas of lawn, have scarified or just fancy adding newer grass varieties then over seeding the lawn will be part of the operation. You should add the new grass seed after renovation and either before or after top dressing. If you have a lot of top dressing to work into the lawn perhaps seeding afterwards is best so that the seed doesnt get moved around as you rub and level the dressing. On the other hand, if you are only top dressing lightly you could add the lawn seed first so that the dressing goes on top thereby insulating the seed somewhat from birds and rain.
Depending on which book you read some even advise mixing the top dressing and seed to save time. Unfortunately it seems to make more work with the seed going where the top dressing goes into the dips and none on the bumps!
Compost Or Topsoil For Overseeding
When overseeding your lawn, it is better to use compost as a topdressing instead of topsoil. This is because compost is rich with nutrients and organic materials which will feed the grass seed and work their way into the existing soil as the compost breaks down.
Adding topsoil will put a smothering layer of dirt atop your existing grass. The topsoil you bring in usually wont have enough nutrients to feed your grass seed, and it wont break down over time. Compost is the key when overseeding.
Also Check: Astro Turf Lawn Cost
How To Level A Lawn With Topsoil
Check the level of your lawn with a wooden lumber and level.Commonly used materials for leveling are topsoil, sand, and compost.Dig out the topsoil layer and place it in a pile for later use.Dig up the grass in low spots or divots deeper than two or three inches.
Ensure you have equal mixing parts of compost, sand and topsoil.Fill the hole with topsoil or topsoil mix and then replace the turf by pressing it right down on top of it.Filling low spots in the lawn.For levelling a bump in the lawn, dig out the excess soil until level with the surrounding area, tread down and fold the flaps of turf back over.
Get a wheelbarrow, and mix a top dressing soil mixture, which will support your turfgrass growth.How to level an entire lawn.How to top dress your lawn making your lawn top dressing.It all depends on how uneven your lawn is and whether you want it to be just level or putting green level.
It is simple to level a lawn with topsoil, all you have to do is spread a thin layer of quality topsoil over your lawn.Leveling your lawn with sand and leveling your lawn with topsoil is a good start.Make sure the bubble is in the center of the tube on your level.Once the turf has been cleared and aerated the top dressing will need to be prepared.
Small bumps in the lawn require sand leveling.So how do we fix a bumpy lawn?Soil mixture of topsoil, sand and compost.Some people also use compost, which is great for enriching the soil.
Topsoil Myth : The Dirt In My Yard Is Fine The Way It Is
If you recently moved into a home that was previously owned by a skilled gardener, then maybe this is true. But more often than not, the quality of soil around homes, especially newly constructed ones, isn’t the best for plants. It takes time to build up high-quality soil that includes generous amounts of decomposed plants, . This is a vital component that gives topsoil good drainage, just the right water-holding capacity, and a loose, easy-to-dig quality. It’s also important for supporting a healthy soil ecosystem of microbes that help plants grow better.
The quickest way to great garden soil is to purchase it. You can put a 2-3 inch thick layer directly on top of existing soil before planting and just let nature do the rest of the work, or you can till it in. On top of that, you can amend your topsoil further with a couple of inches of compost. This can be a lot of labor, but ultimately it creates very productive soil.
Don’t Miss: Johnson Grass Removal
What Is Top Dressing A Lawn
Top dressing is the act of spreading a thin layer over the surface of something. In this case, were spreading a thin layer of compost over the surface of the lawn, and it doesnt take much to do the job. You want to add enough compost to introduce a good balance of nutrients and plenty of beneficial microbes, but not so much that you risk smothering your lawn. When top dressing lawn, you only need to spread ¼ to ½ of an inch of compost over the grass. Rain, wind, soil organisms, and human actions quickly move the compost down through the grass and into the soil where it can work its magic.
Preparing The Soil For Grass Seed
Following on from our grass seed selection blog, heres the lowdown on preparing the soil for grass seed.
So youve decided to sow a new lawn from grass seed. Perhaps youre replacing an existing lawn thats become tired and ugly, or perhaps you are redesigning your garden. No matter what the reason, the secret to a beautiful lawn lies mostly in the soil.
Soil science is very much in its infancy. In fact I often think that we know more about outer space than we do about the ground beneath our feet. What I have learned in years of greenkeeping training and experience is that the health of your soil really does impact the health of your lawn.
To successfully grow a lawn from grass seed the soil must be
- Well drained
- Have a good population of worms, beetles and microbes
- Ideally free from perennial weeds
Nice crumbly topsoil like this is ideal for sowing grass seed. If the soil in your garden is sticky and clay-like try digging in lots of compost to help improve the structure.
In this article were looking at how to ensure that your soil is in tip top condition before sowing grass seed.
Recommended Reading: Kijaro Lawn Chairs
Note: Timing Compost Applications
Compost is spread in spring or fall, but there are important nuances. In cool-season areas, the spring application is typically lighter and the fall application heavier. In the south, topdress warm-season grasses in early spring. Consult with the local extension service or your soil test provider for recommended depth and dates.
Keep in mind, too, that compost has some fertilizer value and may partially offset fertilizer application rates.
About Top Dressing With Sand
According to the Institute of Food and Agriculture at the University of Florida, top dressing home lawns with sand is more harmful than helpful. Experts agree that sand should only be used on a lawn to level low areas, cover exposed tree roots, and to fix heavy thatch build up. Even in those cases, it is recommended that you top dress with a rich, fine compost instead of sand.
Sand particles cannot retain any nutrients, so applying a layer of sand year after year to lawns actually causes lawns to lose their fertility. Golf courses are built on sandy soil and specialized turf grasses that can thrive in sandy conditions used on the greens. The grass seed or sod that most people have in their lawn is not the same as the grass on golf courses.
Golf courses also generally receive more maintenance than the common lawn, such as fertilizing and watering, which ultimately helps correct deficiencies created by the addition of sand.
Also Check: Peat Moss Lawn
Identify The Weak Spots
You might choose to topdress your lawn after every couple of years whether it is looking okay or not. But, in most cases, you cannot wait for all that time since the lawn will require a more regular maintenance routine. And this is because it will start developing weak spots after some time. When it comes to adding topsoil to existing lawn identifying these weak spots should always be the first step.
Look for areas where the grass does not seem to be growing at the same pace as the rest or appears discolored. Also, you should watch out for compaction and areas where the earth appears sunken down as a result of rotting trees and branches. Thatched parts of the lawn where the grass is thicker than the rest is also a weak spot.
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.
Sounds like a big project? Not a problem!
If you want to have your lawn top dressed just right , do it the way seasoned lawn owners do hire lawn care professionals. With these experts on top of your lawn maintenance, you can say goodbye to a patchy and anemic-looking lawn, and say hi to brighter, greener days ahead.
About Author
Read Also: How To Dispose Of Riding Lawn Mower
How Do I Topdress My Lawn
When your lawns grass is actively grown, and youve checked and prepared your soil to make sure its just the right type for your existing lawn, you can then go ahead and start spreading the prepared soil.
The process may take a little time since you need to give it some care as you go on dressing your entire lawn. If you do it with care and accuracy in one go, however, you wont have to go through unnecessary hassle afterward.
The common method for topdressing is using a drop spreader to spread the soil evenly and accurately through the lawn.This is quite effective in achieving even layers of soil.
Another simple way is to use a shovel or a bucket to spread the soil across the lawn.
When it comes to depressions in the soil, however, you could add just enough topsoil to the depression. Then, make sure its left slightly molded so the soil will settle.
