Top-dress with which product?

Learn how improving your soil can lead to a better looking lawn
Post Reply
escondidogardener2
Posts: 29
Joined: July 30th, 2019, 4:23 pm
Location: Escondido California
Grass Type: Bermuda
Lawn Size: 1000-3000
Level: Some Experience

Top-dress with which product?

Post by escondidogardener2 » November 6th, 2019, 7:34 pm

I have a local soil supplier near me and I cannot figure out which product is best for increasing the oragnic material content of my lawn. I tried speaking with someone but got more or less "anything we sell will help" response.

Here is my soil report from Apri
Image


I got some outstanding direction from Andy in June and have been fertilizing at high bag rate 15/15/15 every 30 days and laid down gypsum every 60 days. I will continue this until my next sample in Spring 2020

My plan is to top dress with 4 yards (1/2 inch coverage on 4k lawn) of either:
  • 100%mushroom compost
    50% mushroom compost + 50% biochar
    90% Canadian Fir + 10% manure (this was what was suggested by the person I spoke to on the phone)
    70% vigin soil + 30% compost (this product can be had in any variation from 70/30 to 50/50)
The company's website is here:

http://eastmansoil.com/home/1880726

Last bit of information is that I want to over-seed after applying the topdressing. Not sure how long I would need to wait before doing this.

User avatar
andy10917
Posts: 29739
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 10:48 pm
Location: NY (Lower Hudson Valley)
Grass Type: Emblem KBG (Front); Blueberry KBG Monostand (Back)
Lawn Size: 1 acre-2 acre
Level: Advanced

Re: Top-dress with which product?

Post by andy10917 » November 7th, 2019, 7:45 pm

The last sentence is very important - mushroom compost can be very "hot", which means it can burn tender new growth. Nix on anything with mushroom compost if you'll be seeding. I can't offer opinions on "virgin soil" without seeing a soil test - it could be anything.

escondidogardener2
Posts: 29
Joined: July 30th, 2019, 4:23 pm
Location: Escondido California
Grass Type: Bermuda
Lawn Size: 1000-3000
Level: Some Experience

Re: Top-dress with which product?

Post by escondidogardener2 » November 7th, 2019, 7:54 pm

How do you feel about 90% canadian fur shavings and 10% manure? This was the companies recommendation. I have no experience with fir shavings as a compost ingredient.

User avatar
andy10917
Posts: 29739
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 10:48 pm
Location: NY (Lower Hudson Valley)
Grass Type: Emblem KBG (Front); Blueberry KBG Monostand (Back)
Lawn Size: 1 acre-2 acre
Level: Advanced

Re: Top-dress with which product?

Post by andy10917 » November 7th, 2019, 8:23 pm

If it is broken down to where you can't make out the shavings, it's OK. Otherwise, it will be slow to break down and will behave much like a mulch as much as a compost.

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 6 guests