Do you find it amazing that what’s old becomes new again? For instance, take topdressing. Old Tom Morris, a Scottish greenkeeper from the 19th century, started topdressing the famous golf courses of Scotland.
From there, topdressing became a regular part of taking care of golf greens because of the topdressing’s positive results. Now, more residential customers want to topdress their turfgrass—especially if they prefer organic lawn care.
Why Topdress a Lawn?
As organic lawn care becomes the preferred method of taking care of your customers’ properties, you’ll notice that your clients will want you to topdress their lawn.
Also, families are more cautious about using chemicals on their turfgrass because of the consequences to their children and pets’ health.
While topdressing is hard work that doesn’t turn a big profit, you could include it in your fall lawn maintenance services, along with aeration and overseeding cool season grasses.
Plus, today’s spreaders are designed to topdress lawns. So your crews won’t have to use shovels to put down topdressing. However, you’ll still need to work the topdressing into the soil using rakes.
You apply ¼” to ½” of compost or sand mixture to your spreader and thinly layer it on the lawn. Here are some popular soil amendments to use as topdress:
- Compost
- Composted manure
- Coir (fiber from the outer coconut husk)
- Leaf mold
- Other manure that contains chicken, cow, horse, or rabbit manure
- Peat moss.
Best way to topdress your lawn: If you don’t make your own compost, make sure that you buy compost only from a reputable source. Some companies don’t allow the compost to cook thoroughly, which presents a problem when putting it down on a customer’s lawn.
Learn more: How to Be Your Customers’ Landscape Problem Solver
8 Benefits of Topdressing
As golf courses demonstrate, topdressing also works wonders for commercial and residential lawns. However, topdressing does change the soil’s pH. Make sure to get a soil test done before adding topdressing.
Still, topdressing enhances the ground to produce healthy, dense turf. Here are eight benefits of topdressing lawns:
- It changes the soil’s texture right away to rich and crumbly.
- It improves the soil’s biology because of the organic matter and beneficial organisms.
- It improves the soil’s structure by correcting drainage
- It smooths out the soil and creates a lush lawn
- It reduces lawn stress
- It keeps thatch under control
- It fertilizes turfgrass longer than traditional lawn nutrition
- It helps lawns the most out of all the available turf services.
For your customers to see success, though, you need to use only the best compost you can find.
Here are six best ways to topdress your lawn with the correct compost:
- Use top quality and fully cooked compost
- Inspect the compost to make sure that it doesn’t consist of primarily filler
- Make your compost from lawn litter and other landscaping “scraps.”
- Buy your compost from a trustworthy source
- Put down sand to loosen up heavy clay soil and to correct drainage problems
- Apply topdress after you aerate your customers’ lawn.
Read more: The Best Spreader for Topdressing Golf Greens
Can You Topdress a Lawn with a Spreader?
Fortunately for all lawn care pros, today’s spreaders are the best ways to topdress your lawn.
The drop spreader is the best one to use because it drops the compost directly onto the grass rather than spreading it far and wide. You’ll get a consistent result with a drop spreader.
You can also use a broadcast spreader that has the technology to spread topdressing evenly on lawns. You may still need to do some raking, whether you use a drop or broadcast spreader.
The key to success lies in the compost’s dryness. Dry compost will deliver a thin layer to your yard, while wet compost will quickly clump and clog your spreader.
At Spyker Spreaders, our Pro-Series commercial drop spreader puts down compost exactly where you want it. Our commercial drop spreader includes these three main features:
- Side-by-side hopper sections for variable spreader width
- Large 13” x 5” pneumatic tires
- All steel hopper construction.
Our Pro-Series commercial broadcast spreader, also known as Mulch-N-More, includes these three features, among others:
- Extra-large port opening for larger materials
- 120-lb hopper capacity for fewer refills
- ACCU-WAY™ technology for a balanced spread pattern.
Watch the Mulch-N-More in action with this video[Ma1] .
You can find our Spyker spreader products at your local dealer or online at these retailers.
Have a question about your Spyker spreader? Then, call our customer service at (800)-972-6130 or fill out our contact form.
Sources:
SavveyGardening.com, Top Dressing the Lawn for a Green and Gorgeous Yard.
TheSpruce.com, The Benefits of Topdressing Your Lawn.
Ibid, What are Soil Amendments?