Top dressing lawn

[MR47930]

Has anyone ever top dressed their lawn with a fertilizer or compost? Where I live the ground is very sandy and I'm thinking about giving the yard a good makeover this fall.

The plan would be to mow shorter than usual, about 2 inches or so, dethatch, rake, core aerate, overseed heavily, apply 1/4" of compost over the yard and then water like hell. I realize this is going to be very labor intensive but I only plan on doing the front yard this year and have all of the equipment on hand. Has anyone ever top dressed their yard? Did you see a noticeable difference in your grass appearance?

 

[DoWhat]

Has anyone ever top dressed their yard? Did you see a noticeable difference in your grass appearance?

Yes and yes.
Had that done last fall and the grass came in great.
But the rain this past spring caused brown patch and the yard went to $hit.
We are planning to do a heavy over seed this fall and hope we can get the yard looking nice again.

Good luck.
I paid someone to do it. Lotta hard work ahead of you.

Oh one more thing.
Make sure you kill off all the current weeds and crab grass.

 

[MR47930]

Yes and yes.
Had that done last fall and the grass came in great.
But the rain this past spring caused brown patch and the yard went to $hit.
We are planning to do a heavy over seed this fall and hope we can get the yard looking nice again.

Good luck.
I paid someone to do it. Lotta hard work ahead of you.

Oh one more thing.
Make sure you kill off all the current weeds and crab grass.

Thanks. Do you know what type of compost/fertilizer they used? I think I'm going to use Leafgro so I shouldn't have to worry about any burning of the new grass since its just decomposed leaves and not a fertilizer.

I have a tow behind dethatcher and aerator so the real work will only be the raking of the thatch and the spreading of the compost. I understand its going to be a hell of a chore, hence why im only doing the front yard this year.

 

[DoWhat]

Thanks. Do you know what type of compost/fertilizer they used? I think I'm going to use Leafgro so I shouldn't have to worry about any burning of the new grass since its just decomposed leaves and not a fertilizer.

I have a tow behind dethatcher and aerator so the real work will only be the raking of the thatch and the spreading of the compost. I understand its going to be a hell of a chore, hence why im only doing the front yard this year.

Below is from the contract from last year on what they did:

Prepare existing front lawn for seeding. fill in ruts in the front yard with top soil. Slice seed entire front lawn in a
criss cross pattern with a seed rate of 10 pounds per thousand square feet. The type of seed that will be applied
will be cool season fescue blend. After seed has been laid, we shall apply a 50/50 mix of soil/leafgro to entire
front lawn (20 yards total). Apply starter fertilizer. Cover bare areas with penn mulch

 

[itsbob]

Yes and yes.
Had that done last fall and the grass came in great.
But the rain this past spring caused brown patch and the yard went to $hit.
We are planning to do a heavy over seed this fall and hope we can get the yard looking nice again.

Good luck.
I paid someone to do it. Lotta hard work ahead of you.

Oh one more thing.
Make sure you kill off all the current weeds and crab grass.

Call my daughter she'll hook you up..

She started working for Scott's last year, and having to support my kid I bought a plan.. My lawn NEVER went brown this summer, even through the 45 days without rain..

our lawn still has a way to go as it's ate up with the wire grass.. but it's still beautiful dark green. They come out and treat about once a month, and even put down 500 pounds of lime.

 

[huntr1]

What is wire grass?

 

[MR47930]

Below is from the contract from last year on what they did:

Prepare existing front lawn for seeding. fill in ruts in the front yard with top soil. Slice seed entire front lawn in a
criss cross pattern with a seed rate of 10 pounds per thousand square feet. The type of seed that will be applied
will be cool season fescue blend. After seed has been laid, we shall apply a 50/50 mix of soil/leafgro to entire
front lawn (20 yards total). Apply starter fertilizer. Cover bare areas with penn mulch

20 yards!
If you don't mind me asking, how much acreage did that 20 yards cover? My estimate for topdress material was MUCH less than that.

 

[MR47930]

Call my daughter she'll hook you up..

She started working for Scott's last year, and having to support my kid I bought a plan.. My lawn NEVER went brown this summer, even through the 45 days without rain..

our lawn still has a way to go as it's ate up with the wire grass.. but it's still beautiful dark green. They come out and treat about once a month, and even put down 500 pounds of lime.

I just spread 1000lbs of lime this weekend. Hoping for some rain in the near future, but its not looking good.
I would love to call Scott's and have someone else do all the hard work but I can justify spending money on something I can do myself. They charge a premium, and rightfully so, and I figure I can do the same thing for 1/10th the cost.

 

[itsbob]

I just spread 1000lbs of lime this weekend. Hoping for some rain in the near future, but its not looking good.
I would love to call Scott's and have someone else do all the hard work but I can justify spending money on something I can do myself. They charge a premium, and rightfully so, and I figure I can do the same thing for 1/10th the cost.

Actually I'm not so sure.

I'm not sure I can do what they do for less than they charge. They charge me $179 per treatment.. More times than not that includes Spraying the yard with weed control.. and than fertilizing with pellet type and a spreader..

The size of my lawn, I can't go to Lowes and buy bags of fertilizer for that much.. let alone accounting for my time to do it.

 

[GWguy]

I let nature do it's thing. My grass has never been greener or thicker and it costs me nothing. Something to be said for the wonderful summer fescue.

 

[MR47930]

Actually I'm not so sure.

I'm not sure I can do what they do for less than they charge. They charge me $179 per treatment.. More times than not that includes Spraying the yard with weed control.. and than fertilizing with pellet type and a spreader..

The size of my lawn, I can't go to Lowes and buy bags of fertilizer for that much.. let alone accounting for my time to do it.

I was quoted something much higher by some Russian kid walking around the neighborhood from Scott's.

 

[MR47930]

I let nature do it's thing. My grass has never been greener or thicker and it costs me nothing. Something to be said for the wonderful summer fescue.

I'm hoping that when I get the conditions right, I can also let nature do its thing. Unfortunately with such sandy soil and no irrigation it looks like hell in the summer.

 

[nutz]

with a seed rate of 10 pounds per thousand square feet.

:shock: Most grass seeds will cover anywhere from 1 lb. for every 200 square feet to 1 lb. for every 1,000 square feet--read the bag. Use the recommended rate on the packaging when seeding. Too much is not a better thing.

 

[nutz]

20 yards!
If you don't mind me asking, how much acreage did that 20 yards cover? My estimate for topdress material was MUCH less than that.

topdressing at 1" spread rate takes 3 cubic yards per 1000 sq.ft. Leafgro is not the best for dressing, composted manure is much better.
composted chicken manure has a very high nitrogen level (4.5) which makes grass grow green, but isn't best if used for grazing animals on. Horse manure is usually free but you need almost 5 times as much.
http://easternshore.craigslist.org/grd/5718669004.html

 

[itsbob]

I was quoted something much higher by some Russian kid walking around the neighborhood from Scott's.

My daughter would be much nicer.. and she speaks English!!

They usually quote for an entire season, but they bill by individual application.