If there’s one thing we really believe in at Connecticut Green, it’s the importance of good, healthy soil. Without nutrient-rich, living soil, you can’t have a thriving lawn or garden. This time of year, one of the best things you you can do to keep your soil healthy is top dressing with compost. Here’s why:
- Top dressing improves the quality of the soil over time. Sandy soils may retain water better and resist drought conditions; clay soils may drain better after seasons of top dressing. Adding top dressing with compost also helps reduce compaction, and promotes healthy root growth. A good organic top dressing can protect lawn from disease and even reduce the need for fertilizers later on by adding biostimulants and nutrients to the soil. This is even more effective if top dress is applied shortly after aerating, allowing it to get deeper into the soil.
- Top dressing helps smooth the surface of an uneven lawn, evening out lumps and bumps – a benefit touted by the USGA. (Most golf courses are top dressed, and have been for centuries.) It can address both the compacted soil in heavily trafficked areas and the areas where water tends to pool because the soil is lower.
- Top dressing helps break up thatch, defined by the USGA as “the layer of organic debris, stems, crowns and roots in the upper rootzone.” Too thick a thatch layer can prevent water, air and nutrients from reaching the roots of your grass. Reducing thatch will improve the quality of your lawn, allowing roots to grow – and will further reduce the risk for pests and diseases.
While some may choose to use sand or soil, for residential homes, we believe best top dressing to apply is compost. That’s because compost is so rich in the nutrients and microbes that your soil needs to foster the right environment for root growth. A natural material derived from organic matter, compost provides nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, sulfur and micro-organisms – all of which are essential for plant growth.
Top dressing your lawn with compost annually can make a dramatic difference in the quality of your grass. Healthy soil yields healthy gardens, and topdressing may be the advantage your soil needs. Take this proactive step now, and see how much better your lawn will look this spring!
Contact us today to schedule your top dressing with compost!
