On May 30, 9:51 am, "Cliff" wrote:
"headware" wrote in message

...



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

It is part of the annual ritual that I go through. I am in San Antonio and
so go to the nearest Gardenville and get mine a yard at a time in the back
of my truck. That way I don't have a pile setting in the drive, and a yard
or two at a time is all I want to do at one sitting. I use the local bio
solid product which is called alamo gro but in Austin is named Dillo Dirt I
think. Any of your good organic nursery's should be able to give you advice
on which product is recommended in your area.

Cliff

Very good, thank you Cliff!