Topdressing Your Lawn with Compost or Topsoil
Top dressing your lawn with compost will give you thicker, healthier grass without using harmful chemical fertilizers. This will give you a beautiful lawn that is safe for your family and pets!
First, some quick vocabulary for Lawn Care:
- De-thatching is the process of raking your lawn to remove built up dead grass that lies between the green vegetation and the soil. This woven layer that can prevent nutrients, water and oxygen from permeating the soil.
- Aerating is the process of perforating the soil with small holes to allow air, water and nutrients to penetrate the grass roots.
- Top Dressing is the process of applying a layer of compost or topsoil onto your grass to provide vital nutrients to promote a vivacious, green lawn
How to top dress your lawn
Step 1: We recommend starting with de-thatching, aerating and mowing your lawn to 1.5" or shorter.
Step 2: Spread 0.5 inches of Soilutions Compost over your lawn. For most residential lawns, the most practical way to spread compost is with a wheelbarrow and a shovel followed by a good raking (a push broom will also work). Make sure the tips of grass blades remain exposed to oxygen and sunlight.
Step 3: Water the compost in thoroughly, then follow a recommended watering schedule for your area and season. A good schedule for the greater Albuquerque area can be found at https://www.505outside.com/
If you have holes or uneven areas in your lawn, we recommend you fill those areas with our Enriched Topsoil. Our Enriched Topsoil is a living soil with plenty of organic matter and a bit of sand to help even out divots in your existing lawn while providing proper nutrients for maximum root growth.
When to top dress lawn with compost
Best practice is to top dress your lawn in the Spring and Fall. If you can't swing both, be sure to do at least one or the other.
Cool season grasses like rye, Bermuda and fescue (typical grasses used in our area) can come out of dormancy as early as the beginning of March in Albuquerque. A nice sunny day in March is a great time to get a jump on your summer lawn. It’s okay to spread compost in the early Spring as it will give the compost a chance to work into the soil and give it the boost it needs. Early spring frosts won’t hurt your newly composted lawns.
In Fall, late October or early November are the best time, ideally before the first frost.
How much compost do you need?
You can figure out how much compost you need for your lawn using our handy calculator.
“Established lawns benefit greatly from a single yearly application of compost, even more greatly from two” Organic Lawns, Healthy Soil
