Buying Top Dressing, has it been worth the cost....

In my view absolutely NO !

Some time ago I posted a couple of photos showing a couple of sloping areas on my lawn which every year turned into horrible brown patches.
The replies I got where absolutely correct. Those areas needed top dressing with new soil, which had never to my knowledge been done whilst we've lived in this house.

I treated one slope with expensive Top Dressing from a well known and recommended Lawn Care Company. The other I treated with soil from my own compost heap. It meant more work, because I had to use a sieve to make a fine soil, but the cost was Nil.

Both mixed with some grass seed, there is no doubt about the results. My own compost has produced a nice new lush green grass slope at zero expense. The area with purchased top dressing is still very patchy and hardly any new growth.

No Contest !!

 

If you don't want to say the company name can you just post the initial or initials?

I'm on the mailing list for a reputable company and am always staggered by their prices.
I have enough of my own compost to do my lawns next spring but need some top dressing for some clients and one of my local suppliers let me down earlier this year so I may need a back up plan!

 

depends how it's done and why it's done

I frequent an American lawn forum as I'm trying to learn about fertilizers and lawn care .... many of the guys who post there are full time groundsmen and many offer a lawn 'rejuvination program' for homes aswell

from what I've gathered, many do the following ...

one needs to first scarify a lawn and remove the thatch .... then you mow ... then you aerate, then you apply a top dressing, then you over seed

then a few weeks later, they apply a starter lawn fertilizer, then a few weeks later once the seeded grass has established, they apply a regular lawn fertilizer...

all the posts I have read, state that they use top dressing and not compost

this is big business in the USA and some guys charge over $200 just to aerate an average sized lawn

so, if your seed has not germinated using the topdressing that you purchased, and assuming it got enough water, there is definately something wrong somewhere ....

seed will germinate in poor soil and only needs nutrients at a later stage of growth, so it will be interesting to see how the 2 patches fare/compare in spring

I seeded a new build home a few weeks ago .... the grass is already more than an inch high and is full and lush ....

with the past warm weather we had, the seed should have germinated in approx 14 days assuming it was regulary watered....

 

I've top dressed both my newly seeded lawn at the back, and the established but tired lawn at the front, with mushroom compost that cost me £2.50 per 50 litre sack.

Its hard to say what difference it made to the new lawn, because it is new, but it established well within about 3 months from seed. Its easier to say what effect it had on the front,which is an established lawn, but where the grass really was struggling. Within days of putting the mushroom compost on, I started seeing lots of lush bold green growth.

I intend to do both lawns again in a couple of weeks, so the mushroom compost top dressing will not only do its job of improving soil composition in the root zone, but will also help keep the frost at bay, so that by spring, I expect to have two good lawns.

As for price comparisons:
Mushroom compost 50 Litre sack: £2.50
Lawn Top Dressing 25 Litre sack: approx £6

Incidentally, I wonder how professional gardeners top dressed lawns before the marketing gurus thought of making a specific product for the job.

 

I'm no expert, however my theory is that when over seeding, a topsoil will be better as compost will break down (if that makes sense) ....

once the seeds have germinated and rooted, then a layer of compost would be good as it will improve the soil (especially here in the UK where much of the soil is clay)

as for the greener effect, compost has a higher nitrogen value than topsoil but that is short lived ...

thats why I say one should use topsoil/top dressing to establish the seed, then fertilize periodically once the lawn is established

an occasional dressing of compost is also good as it improves the soil quality

and one needs to occasionally aerate so as to assist with drainage

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if seeding a brand new lawn where no lawn/grass has previously been planted, a thick layer of compost or soil conditioner added to the soil, then rotivated, and levelled, then seeded is what many recomend