Top Dressing with sand/compost questions...

3719 Views 11 Replies 8 Participants Last post by Richard Slater, May 17, 2018

Seeking_Turf

Discussion Starter · May 15, 2018

Planning my second round of sand leveling (1/4") in the front (~750 sqft)next week but wanted to add some compost into the mix. Here is my timeline so far:
4/1 - Starter Fertilizer (24-25-4)
5/1 - Top Dressing/Leveling 1/4" mason sand (.5 yard) with full bag of milorganite (5-4-0, 36lbs)

What ratio of sand/compost would you guys recommend? 80/20?
Or
Would it be better just to top dress with the sand and throw down another full application of the starter fertilizer a few days before the sand?

Thanks!!! :thumbup:

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Ridgerunner

· #2 · May 15, 2018

I think the consensus is that if you are leveling, you don't want to add organic matter.

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Ridgerunner

· #5 · May 15, 2018

Yes. Many forms of OM will continue to decompose changing the level of the soil. Plus you can't work it much w/o it separating the OM and sand. I'm assuming you are leveling for reel mowing. If you are just filling in ruts, holes or gullies that would be a different situation IMO. I use sand for that and I do add OM (peat moss). I find it to take little effort to revisit a few holes that settle and top them off.
There are a few cool season folks that reel mow, but the only one that I'm sure has leveled is @wardconnor. He'd be a good source for advice on this.
Or maybe one of the warm season guys like @Ware would give you advice on this.
Or @Pete1313

:thumbup:

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