Thinking about a Top Dress?

Check out our five top tips to keep it classy.

Top dressing is done for two reasons. Firstly, to correct poor preparation, lack of soil, fill low spots or correct uneven areas. Secondly, is to add organic nutrients and beneficial micro-organisms to the lawn. Top dressing will give it a boost of nutrients and encourage new shoots resulting in a thicker lawn, which will also hinder any weed infestations.

It is important to pick the right time to nuture your lawn properly. Top dressing should only be done during the growing season (approx. August to April) because the turf needs to actively growing to push through the new surface quickly. 

Even though our winter is usually reasonably mild, it is enough to slow the growth. It’s the reason why we go from mowing just about every seven days to being able to push it out to a fortnight or so. The process of top dressing is stressing to the plant and there is a significant risk that if you topdress when the lawn is dormant that you could kill your lawn, set it back further or let the weeds take hold.

If you are looking to do maintenance through the winter – fertiliser is your best friend.

Our five tips for top dressing are:
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1. Fertilise around two weeks before to prepare your lawn and give it a growth boost
2. Freshly mow the area to be top dressed by taking off 1/3 of the leaf
3. Use a good quality river sand and compost mix
4. Spread the top dress over the area using a lawn leveller to a depth of 10 to 13mm
5. Water in well and apply a good organic fertiliser

For any low spots - carefully dig and lift the section of turf, top up the area with soil, re-lay the turf and water well. 

And the opposite for high spots - lift the turf, remove some of the soil, re-lay the turf and water well.