10 Benefits To Top Dressing Lawns

Farmers have long known that nutrients in the soil can be depleted and they will sometimes leave a field fallow to allow the soil time to rejuvenate and restore its fertility. Your lawn is no different. After a time, the essential nutrients found in the soil can deplete or dissipate leaving your grass starving. A stressed lawn won’t grow as well and will be more vulnerable to drought, insects and weeds.

Fertilizer is one way to add the nutrients back into the soil, and this very beneficial. Nutri-Lawn Vancouver has multiple fertilizer options that can bring new life back into your lawn.
Top dressing is another way to add nutrients back into the soil. Top dress is when a thin layer of compost or soil is applied to the surface of your lawn. This isn’t applied so thick that you’ll be able to see it, but top dressing is an organic way to adding some fresh “life” back into your soil.

Top dressing not only adds missing or depleted nutrients into the existing soil, it is living soil. Soil contains billions of microorganisms convert many organic materials such as fallen leaves, woody debris and other things into nutrients the plants can consume. These microorganisms, when missing, encourage a host of other problems that are difficult to cure.

What are 10 benefits to top dressing? Top dressing:

1. Adds organic matter back into your lawn
2. Reintroduces microorganisms back into the soil
3. Combined with core aeration places new organic material and nutrients deeper into the soil
4. Can amend or modify the soil (adding compost can relieve compaction problems for instance)
5. Reduces the need for fertilizer
6. Can reduce the stress on your lawn from foot or vehicle traffic
7. Ensures any grass seed planted has contact with soil, needed to germinate
8. Helps soil retain moisture which is especially helpful when planting new grass or sod
9. Can even out dips or hollow spots in the yard so that grass has equal access to water
10. Can reduce thatch buildup by encouraging decomposition

Before You Start

Top dressing provides many benefits, but too much of a good thing can cause its own problems. Applying a top dressing too thick over thatch can create problems with drainage. Mow your lawn before the application of a top dressing so the new layer can reach the soil as quickly as possible. Aerating your lawn prior to top dressing can boost the benefits by allowing the new nutrients and microorganisms to penetrate deeper into the soil. This is also a great time to consider overseeding. Ensure your lawn is already healthy before applying a top dressing. Adding a top dressing to a dormant lawn will delay early growth because the new plants will have to push through this additional layer to reach the sun.

Nutri-Lawn Vancouver only uses premium organic compost for top dressing because of its high nutrient content. Our expert lawn care technicians can provide advice on how to get your lawn looking vibrant and healthy.