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  Pristine Gardens February 19, 2014 at 1:19pm

  It would depend on what soil is already there, if you start adding a sandy top dressing onto for example a clay based lawn you will end up producing a pan and changing soil structure causing trouble further down the line. I spent 13 years managing golf courses and sports clubs and its not as simple as just throwing down some top dressing, the reasons why you are top dressing play an important part too. If you get the mix, quantity or timing and weather conditions wrong you are in serious trouble and could end up smothering the grass sealing the surface or causing disease to the sward. I would advise you get proper training eg sports turf course or stay clear of this one as you could end up worse off. Sorry to put a downer on your post. David
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  Gary Jackson February 19, 2014 at 2:41pm

  Thanks for reply! One site said dont use sandy top dressing on clay as it would act like cement with the clay. Another one said to use the sandy stuff for clay soils. I still want to aerate if I can. Could I get away with aerating and not putting top dressing on or could i use a topdressing compost after?
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  Pristine Gardens February 19, 2014 at 2:58pm

  A lot of people get the aeration bit wrong especially a well known franchise, on a real fine lawn or sports pitch you would add a real small amount of top dressing to level out any pits or damage to the surface, on a domestic lawn the grass will be that much longer that this will not show so there is no need to do this. Again if you hollow tine to remove thatch an moss ect you will need to replace the soil that you have removed to prevent the structure falling in on its self. The best practice will be to scarify for moss and thatch and then solid tine for aeration (job done) if you were then to top dress you will be filling back the space you have just made for root growth defeating the whole point of what you have just done you would have just also added x amount of tons of soil that is not needed and will be giving you even less room for root growth, its hard to explain but if you say added 5 tons of top dressing each year ( a bowls green we would add 6-7) what would the levels be like in 10 years?,you would have added 50 ton of soil with out removing any
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  Rich AGS February 19, 2014 at 8:17pm

  I agree with the comments above from pristine gardens , fine turf care and fine lawns is different level to normal lawn care , I have spent over 20 years in Greenkeeping after to set up my company

  we use top dressing on bowling greens and some fine lawns but most peoples lawns they want pay to have topdressing done because of the cost , to give real results on lawns you need large amount applying , i am talking tons and tons on some lawns , doing topdressing right is different ball game to normal lawn care , some bowling greens we apply 3 tons others up to 8 tons amounts for different reasons ,
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  English Sheep February 19, 2014 at 10:11pm

  Hi there Gary.

  What a brilliant question. You can ask many experts in the field and you can get many different answers and opinions back.

  Take the well known franchise as Pristine Gardens mentioned. They hollow core and advertise that they leave the cores ontop of the grass to decompose back into the ground. Two immediate arguments against this;
  1. You end up with a top surface all knobbly like excessive worms cast as a simple example.
  2. Leading experts in the field actually state that cores left ontop of the sward can kill off the sward as it is decomposing due to lack of photosynthesis, oxygen and general suffocation.

  As Rich AGS mentioned fine turf care and bowling green top dressing is blended so that the TopDressing should be similar in make up/ingredients as that of the root zone to which you are applying the TopDressing.
  Sports turf, using Golf Green for example are predominately made up of sand with a blend of organic matter hence the 70/30 mixtures we often see advertised for sale like at Pitchcare.

  Over here in Germany the Golf courses do not use TopDressing instead they use 100% clean washed and dry sand.

  So how would you benefit by using TopDressing for your clients. Firstly when you have carried out any mechanical work and over seeded then a light "TopDressing" can prevent birds from having a royal feast. Birds hate the grittiness.
  The TopDressing can smooth any wash boarding created by the client mowing in one direction.

  With regards to adding sand to clay again there are many arguments that you end up with a result similar to that of concrete and many arguments that sand really does help. BUT. Be aware of which sand you do use.
  Either way I would perhaps believe that you need to add tonnes of material for this to happen to an average sized garden lawn.

  Another argument to break down the clay is to add organic matter. Just like sand you need to add unbelievable quantities for any significant difference.

  We do TopDress when we have carried out a lawn restoration. We have our own brand of TopDressing here specifically blended so that it caters for the “normal lawn care” market. It has been laboratory tested and ticks all the boxes to make it legal to sell here in Germany and even comes in a bag with the EnglishSheep branding.

  Remember that when Rich carries out TopDressing I would say that the turf having TopDressing applied is approx 4-5mm in height making it easier to work with. As Pristine Gardens states garden lawns are a lot longer. Perhaps 15-20mm for a garden lawn is classed as short!!

  My top tip would be to ensure the client cuts there lawn the day before so when you are working the TopDressing into the sward it should not be at a height greater than 20mm.

  Hope that helps.

  Regards
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  Jim Davidson February 19, 2014 at 11:11pm

  Gary why do you want to top dress?

  Is there a particular reason or is it to add another revenue stream?
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  Gary Jackson February 20, 2014 at 8:24am

  
  
  Andy Robinson said:

  What size lawns are you talking about Gary?
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  Gary Jackson February 20, 2014 at 8:32am

  
  
  

  It was primarily another revenue stream and to make any customers gardens look better that wished to use this service.

  I think I will just leave this idea alone.
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  Gary Jackson February 20, 2014 at 8:39am

  Hi, there are too many contradictions when looking on the net. Some say leave the cores to break down, then others say take them away. I think this is more of a specialised field with the different soil types involved and cost involved. It was in the back of my mind that the average customer was not going to pay too much on their lawn. I did a couple of lawn with a garden fork last year and although it was hard work the results 6-8 weeks later were pretty good.

  Thanks
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  English Sheep February 20, 2014 at 9:26am

  There will alway be contradictions especially in the industry that we are in.

  As well as genuine scientific contradictions we are also subjected to the marketing propaganda. This is a multi billion world wide industry after all and you do find that it is large companies sponsoring the R&D...

  Gary I think for you and I TopDressing certainly has benefits.

  Research a little about soil loam clay loam, sandy loam etc.

  I really would not rule out the use of TopDressing just yet as it does bring many benefits to both the residential customer and your company.