Lovely comments....

The effect of black is to make other colours look brighter.

Nice garden, Al n. Looks like you've got lots of interesting stuff in there and it's sure as heck a lot neater than mine at the mo!

 

I feel compelled to say, that while the 'proper' advice for top dressing is probably essential if the goal is to achieve a 'bowling green' lawn, but in my experience, just trying to maintain a nice lawn that is used daily, the technique and mixture is less critical.

I top dressed my brand new lawn with mushroom compost and it made a massive difference, but for 'routine' maintenance at my previous house, I've always just spread sharp sand all over the lawn and kicked it about so that most of the grass ends up showing through it. It just helps with drainage and aeration I think, mainly at the surface which is important for grass as its not very deep rooted.

 

My lawn aka short meadow! is completely choked with moss. With amount of "lawn" I have it's impractical really to do much to it. I did contemplate getting a commercial scarifier in and then thought "OMG what would I do with all the stuff that was lifted out"? I'd need again commercial quantities of lime to make any sort of effect and with the drainage being non existent atm!!! and pretty poor at the best of times I've sort of resigned myself to accepting the grass is rubbish. As long as it's vaguely green that's about as good as mine is going to get unless I win The Lottery!