Landscaping companies not offering topdressing should consider doing so, industry professionals indicate.
“If you are a landscaper, get on this train now before it’s saturated,” says Nick Carlson, Dawson Manufacturing CEO and founder. “We are watching this explode. There is a ton of money to be made for the professional who takes it seriously.”
Topdressing is the process of applying a thin layer of material, usually compost, sand, soil or a mix, over the surface of the ground, typically on lawns, golf courses or athletic fields, Carlson notes.
“When topdressing a lawn, the material is spread evenly and raked or watered into the grass, allowing it to settle into the soil over time,” he adds. “This encourages new root growth and helps maintain a resilient, lush lawn.”
Topdressing helps achieve better soil health or structure on a lawn, says Kevin Eichelberger, sales and marketing for Earth & Turf Products.
Options depend on the surfaces, says Scott C. Kinkead, executive vice president, Turfco Manufacturing Co.
“There are specific topdressing sands for golf greens, sports fields and home lawns,” Kinkead adds. “When you get into home lawns, you can get into more soil amendments, compost and a variety of different materials. The history started with using sand or a sand top dressing mix. Sometimes it’s with peat to be able to smooth out your plain surface and control your thatch layer.”
The benefits
Topdressing is commonly used to improve soil quality, promote healthy grass growth, level uneven surfaces, enhance drainage and reduce thatch buildup, Carlson says, adding that topdressing with compost also helps reduce water consumption by up to 50%.
Eichelberger points out soil health is the most common reason for topdressing.
“This involves spreading compost, not raw manure, or topsoil in order to reintroduce organic matter back into a yard,” Eichelberger says. .
Structure is another benefit.
“Sand or topsoil can take a bumpy lawn and make it smooth through a process called lawn leveling—topdressing to achieve structure,” says Eichelberger. “Many people use blends of compost, sand and topsoil to achieve both goals in one application.”
Noting how topdressing compares to other soil enhancement methods like aeration or fertilization, Kinkead says it’s not an "either-or" proposition.
“Topdressings are used for putting calcined clay down on sports fields,” he said. “You can put down crumb rubber on artificial turf fields. You can put down compost materials. Generally, you’re trying to create a better growing medium or smooth out the surface. If it’s a home lawn, maybe trying to add some soil amendments to make it a more agreeable growing medium or controlling thatch. Maybe there are low spots throughout. Maybe there are areas where the water can't get through because it's so compacted."
Kinkead says oftentimes, aeration can be done first, followed by topdressing.
“You’re trying to relieve compaction so the water and nutrients are getting into the grass and create a better growing medium,” Kinkead says. “It’s oftentimes used to smooth out a surface so it's more even. You might topdress over the surface and then brush it in so that it goes into the low points and creates a smoother surface.”
Carlson says that most of the time, companies provide aeration right alongside topdressing because you want to break the soil up and provide a bed for the compost to settle into.
"This gives the best opportunity for the soil and compost to mix and properly make a healthy bed for healthy turf and new seed if applied," Carlson says. “Fertilizer can be a good, but at the end of the day, we are always looking for what is the most organic and healthy process for our land.”
A number of long-term changes can be expected in a landscape that undergoes regular topdressing.
“Topdressing with compost is a much healthier product to put on your lawn, which means healthier and more sustainable land and less toxic run off into our waters,” Carlson says. “Feeding earth with no man-made products is always going to be a healthier way and safer for our future.”
Long-term effects of topdressing include deeper root penetration for the grass, amended topsoil, increased microbial activity, better water retention and general smoothness, says Eichelberger.
When to topdress
Carlson says that a region affects which materials can be used and when topdressing should occur but that many companies will topdress in spring and fall when the weather is cooler.
“If you are located in a clay-based area, you will need to have a more sandy-based mixture to help break up the clay and let the water pull the earthy compost into the clay,” he says. “Turf types you find in Florida like St. Augustine enjoy a sandy soil and you need to do a soil test before applying the proper mixture.”
However, Eichelberger says that topdressing with sand can be done all summer long as well in the southern states (warm season grasses) because of the resilience of the grass.
The standard topdressing thickness for compost is one-quarter inch, says Eichelberger.
The key, Kinkead says, is getting a soil sample to figure out which material to use.
"You want to be using the same particle sizes, the same sort of material," Kinkead says. "You want to make sure you have a consistent supply of that material. You can create layering if you are using significantly different particle sizes.”
Best practices
Addressing best practices, applying the material evenly across the area is very important for consistency, says Eichelberger.
“After it is applied, a drag or leveling rake should be used to work the materials into the turf, or level out the yard," says Eichelberger. “Compost, sand or topsoil are difficult to handle and cannot be used with a common seed/fertilizer spreader. Aside from the traditional method of spreading with a shovel and wheelbarrow, which gets old very quickly, a piece of precision equipment is needed."
Kinkead says that other challenges include making sure there's a consistent material supply and selecting the proper machinery, adding that his company offers everything from a walking topdresser to a four cubic yard material handler for sports fields and fairway topdressing. For example, a spinner topdresser enables the material to be spread wider and possibly lighter, Kinkead says.
“With ground-driven top spreaders, you’re going to be able to do an area and have the consistent depth throughout,” Kinkead adds. “It’s key to figure out what areas you're planning on topdressing. Are you doing just home lawns? Sports fields? Golf greens? What range of products do you want? What range of areas do you want to cover? And then making sure you figure out what's the right machine for your application, because there's a lot of different versions.”
Another challenge, Carlson says, is educating customers.
"This will change over time, but the customer base doesn’t know what topdressing is, they don’t know how much better it is for their lawns and they don’t know how much water it saves," Carlson says. “Education is the biggest thing companies need to invest in alongside their marketing to educate their customer base.”
One way to effectively educate clients about the benefits and processes of topdressing is to create videos.
“Customers need to know you are the expert on something they have never heard of, and they need to feel you completely know what you’re doing,” Carlson says.
