Top Dressing Lawn With Sandy Loam

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.

Top dressing lawn with sandy loam.

However top dressing year after year with only sand may cause the lawn to lose its fertility. A nice thick lawn requires healthy soil as its base but this can be difficult to do once grass is established. The rule for sand or sandy loam soil is. 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.

About top dressing with sand. Hose the lawn thoroughly so that the dressing is barely visible. 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. Even in those cases it is recommended.

By far the best option for your average home greenskeeper is a top dressing soil blend. 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. This means it has all the components of a good soil with the sandy loam having a higher sand content. Most problems occur for those with sandy loam soils when a much finer sand is mixed over a more coarse sandy loam lawn.

So what you want and need is a sandy loam or a loam top soil. Once again mow the lawn the day prior to applying the top dressing. Top dressing to fix holes and uneven lawn. The very fine sand can fill the air pockets in the soil ruining the structure.

Top dressing is the process of spreading additional soil over the surface of your lawn. 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. This would normally be a loam or a loam and sand mix depending on the condition of your current soil. According to the institute of food and agriculture at the university of florida top dressing home lawns with sand is more harmful than helpful.

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.