Top dressing a lawn

[PJZ]

What method(s) would you recommend for top dressing a lawn with compost (or topsoil)?

-- PJZ

[David J Bockman]

Distribution with a shovel. :o) You might want to practice slinging it first, but it's pretty easy and fast once you get the hang of it. Any 'chilipeppers" (i.e., poor throws) can be raked out when you're done.

Dave

[Alan Sung]

One thing you might also consider is to core aerate your lawn first. Also mow a bit shorter. Then if you topdress with compost, it will fall into the newly created holes, that is, the compost is getting in a little deeper then just a straight topdress.

Even with the slinging shovel fulls method, you will inevitably get spots where you need to rake it out gently so the compost/topsoil falls between the blades of grass rather than smothering it. For large areas, there's a technique calling "dragging". This is basically some push broom heads screwed onto a sheet of plywood. A rope is attached to 2 corners of the plywood and then dragged behind a lawn tractor or by hand. The bristles of the broom work the topdress between the blades of grass.

-al sung Rapid Realm Technology, Inc. Hopkinton, MA (Zone 6a)

[Jay Chan]

I saw a TV program called "Ask This Old House". One of the guy in the show showed the following way to distribute top soil (or compost?) through out the lawn:

- Use a snow shovel that is deep (not wide).

- Put soil/compost on it.

- If you are right-handed, put the handle of the shovel under your left arm-pit, support the shovel with your left hand, and use your right hand to sweep/broadcast the soil/compost from the shovel onto the lawn.

- You will also need to use a rake to smoothen area that has too much soil/compost in one place.

I tried just that yesterday in my small front yard. This worked. But I was so tired after that (it was hot and humid yesterday); I cannot even bring myself up to do jogging in this morning. I will do this again in fall when I need to re-seed my lawn; at that time, I will use an aerator as suggested in another message in this thread.

Hope this helps.

Jay Chan

[PJZ]

Thanks for your suggestions. It seems that there's no easy way to do it.

[Some One]

???

No easy way?

Spread. Rake. Done... Can't be much simpler than that!

[Alan Sung]

Yup, and don't try to fill a drop spreader with top soil and think you can top dress :-) I've heard people wish they could do that.

-al sung