Topdressing a Lawn: What Is It and What Are The Benefits?

Your lawn is your pride and joy. Its vast, green, thick expanse welcomes you home. It encourages you to go outside and enjoy the sunshine.

What you don’t want is a lawn with spots or blotches or bare spots. It’s just not a great appearance. It’s annoying, it’s frustrating, and it’s no fun. Who needs that kind of stress in their life?

What can help you prevent problems with your lawn is paying attention to what’s happening in the soil.

In fact, farmers have long known that nutrients in the soil can deplete over time. Your lawn is left starving for nutrition. A stressed-out lawn won’t grow healthy and strong, and it’ll be more vulnerable to insects, diseases, drought, and other issues.

You may have heard of fertilizer as one way to add nutrients to the soil, and those can certainly be very beneficial. But there’s another way to improve your soil to encourage your lawn to be able to better take in nutrients, including fertilizer. It’s called topdressing.

Let’s review topdressing as a service, what it can do, how it works, and the benefits of topdressing a lawn.

Topdressing 101

Farmers who grow vegetables know that they must restore and rejuvenate the soil to ensure their crops thrive.

The same can be done for your grass. In fact, topdressing is good for lawns in this way. If your lawn is looking lackluster or plagued by issues like diseases and weeds, topdressing might be the solution. Let’s learn more about what it can do.

What Is Topdressing A Lawn?

Topdressing is good for lawns because it’s the best way to rejuvenate it without having to pull it all up and start over.

During topdressing, we spread a thin layer about ¼ inch thick of organic matter on top of your lawn. This amends the soil. This can be done across your entire yard, particularly focusing on bare spots and using overseeding right after to fill those areas in.

Your grass will grow through the topdressing, while the topdressing adds organic material to the soil beneath it. This will improve the overall soil quality and add nutrients to the soil.

What Materials Are Used For Topdressing A Lawn?

Topdressing is good for lawns because it adds compost to the surface of the lawn to improve its soil conditions and, as a result, your overall lawn health.

By running a topdressing machine over the lawn, a thin layer of compost is spread over it.

Adding topdressing annually can transform your sub-par soil into a better environment for growing great grass.

What Is The Purpose Of Topdressing A Lawn?

The reason why topdressing is good for lawns is because it adds missing or depleted nutrients into existing soil.

In the forest, fallen leaves and other debris would naturally add nutrients to the soil. But in the built world like your home lawn in Northern Virginia, these additional nutrient additions are missing.

Topdressing adds this organic matter back into your lawn, reintroducing important microorganisms.

How Does Topdressing Work?

Topdressing a lawn is usually done with aeration and overseeding services. It’s an ideal time to get organic matter into the soil because core aeration helps place that new organic material deeper. Then, overseeding at this time encourages new grass to grow.

When a thin layer of topdressing is spread across your lawn, it may appear slightly dirty. But this material will settle down into the grass, especially after irrigation or a rainstorm.

What Are The Benefits Of Topdressing A Lawn?

The benefits of topdressing a lawn are numerous.

In fact, this annual service may do more for your Northern Virginia lawn than any other service you receive.

Soil Condition Boost

A great lawn will naturally grow in great soil.

A perfect soil would be 7 to 12 inches of topsoil ripe with organic matter on top without too much sand or too much clay.

But, depending on your location, you’ll have variations in soil condition. And if your home is recently built, you might be seriously lacking in topsoil since it was moved and removed during the building process.

Adding topdressing annually can greatly improve your soil condition, which makes topdressing good for lawns.

Elevate Microbial Activity

Your soil naturally has microorganisms within it. They help your lawn take in nutrients.

Microorganisms also break down thatch layers and suppress lawn diseases.

This is why it’s one of the benefits of topdressing a lawn. Topdressing a lawn increases microbial activity, increasing microorganisms.

You’ll Get a Richer Lawn Color

You like green grass? We all do. Yellow or brown lawns are a big no-no.

Topdressing a lawn can add nitrogen because of the organic matter boost, which often results in a nice green-up.

Make The Area Prime For Seed Germination

When you topdress a lawn, particularly after core aeration, you enhance the environment for seed germination.

This is because topdressing helps cover new grass seeds, retaining moisture and elevating seed-to-soil contact. The end result is more grass seeds rooting.

Reduce Thatch Buildup

By boosting your soil health with elevated microbial activity, one of the benefits of topdressing a lawn is encouraging decomposition.

Why is this important? Because it can naturally reduce thatch buildup, making water, oxygen, and nutrients more readily available to your lawn.

Even Out Your Dips In Your Yard

Over time, areas of your lawn can become uneven. This is caused by everything from settling to drainage issues.

Topdressing with a thin layer of compost can help level your lawn area by promoting grass growth – another great benefit of topdressing a lawn.

Important Things To Do Before Topdressing Your Lawn

To reap the many benefits of topdressing a lawn, you must do it right.

Mowing your lawn before a topdressing application can help that material reach the soil as quickly as possible.

Aeration before topdressing can boost its benefits by allowing the new nutrients and microorganisms to get deeper into the soil.

Then, hire a trusted lawn care professional to apply topdressing to ensure they put down a thin layer; one that is too thick can potentially create drainage challenges.

Topdressing is Good for Lawns in Northern Virginia

In addition to great lawn care, including adequate fertilization; proper mowing; correct watering; and annual aeration and overseeding, topdressing is good for your lawn.

If your lawn is having some trouble – maybe it’s overall weak or discolored or is constantly full of weeds, diseases, and insects – then topdressing could certainly help improve your lawn’s health and appearance.

Your lawn could be having some trouble, but this is a part of the solution that could help get it back on the right track.

If you are noticing your lawn is in a state of disrepair and you’re not sure what to do, give Turf’s Up a call.

Don’t let infections and issues spoil your summer fun in the sun on your lawn. We can take a look and tell you what’s really going on with your grass, as well as offer some suggestions to get you back on the road to that thick, green grass you love.

Ready to learn why Turf’s Up could be your totally awesome choice for lawn care services in Northern Virginia? We’re stoked to learn more about you and help you have the best lawn on the block. Get started today with a free quote. Together, we can prepare a customized plan that is perfect for you and your lawn.