On May 28, 8:34 pm, "Cliff" wrote:
"headware" wrote in message

...

I see a lot of people around my neighborhood putting what appears to
be some sort of soil or compost on the problem spots on their lawn.
What are they putting on their lawn and what is the purpose of this?
Is this some sort of lawn care cure-all or are there specific
situations in which this is a good thing to do?

By the way, I have a St. Augustine lawn, as do most people in my
neighborhood.

Thanks,
Dave

It is getting a late to do any top dressing now, it is best done in the
dormant season, Nov-Mar. A good grade of compost is the best material. If
you request "top soil", you will probably get the soil from some field and
it will contain a lot of weed seeds. The compost should be spread about one
half inch and raked in, I use the back of a hard rake. A cu yard of compost
at 1/2 inch thick should cover a bit more than 600 square feet of grass. It
is good exercise which is also better suited to the cooler parts of the
year. The compost will help reduce the watering requirements and, encourage
thicker, greener growth. If you have bare or thin spots now, spot treatment
with compost should help those areas fill in. When you spread compost water
it in as soon as you can. It contains a lot of good stuff that is better
watered in than evaporating.

Cliff

Cliff,

Thanks for the helpful reply. Is this something you normally spread
over your entire lawn? And how often, once a year? I would assume that
if it comes in cubic yards that this is something that is probably
delivered to your house. Can you make any recommendations on good
places to get that much compost?

Thanks,
Dave