Top Dressing Lawn With Sandy Loam

The longer the grass the more sandy loam or clean river sand required to cover the area and a deeper layer of soil will make it harder for the grass to grow through it.

Top dressing lawn with sandy loam.

According to the institute of food and agriculture at the university of florida top dressing home lawns with sand is more harmful than helpful. Use a sandy loam soil to top dress lawns on clay loam and sandy loam soils and a loam top dressing for very sandy soils. The very fine sand can fill the air pockets in the soil ruining the structure. Learn this technique in five easy steps.

Top dressing soils are usually blends of finely screen top soil or loam composts such as cow manure and coarse sand. When top dressing lawns do not spread finer textured sand over a coarse textured soil. So what you want and need is a sandy loam or a loam top soil. 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.

The process of adding a thin layer of soil on top of your lawn is a great way to improve it without disturbing existing grass. Top dressing benefits the lawn as it builds up the quality of the soil over a period of time sandy soils will be able to retain moisture better and so the lawn will be more resistant to drought clay soils will drain better thus improving root development. Top dressing is a formulation of fine sand and loam or organic material which is worked into the surface of the lawn during the renovation process usually when scarification or aeration has taken place during the autumn and over seeding or a particularly even surface is required. A nice thick lawn requires healthy soil as its base but this can be difficult to do once grass is established.

However top dressing year after year with only sand may cause the lawn to lose its fertility. The rule for sand or sandy loam soil is. Even in those cases it is recommended. Top dressing is the process of spreading additional soil over the surface of your lawn.

About top dressing with sand. This would normally be a loam or a loam and sand mix depending on the condition of your current soil. By far the best option for your average home greenskeeper is a top dressing soil blend. Hose the lawn thoroughly so that the dressing is barely visible.

Once again mow the lawn the day prior to applying the top dressing.