Topdressing of my own lawn

[cgaengineer]

As some of you know I did a manure topdress a few weeks ago and I was impressed with the results.

On Memorial Day we had 6 yards of river sand delivered and we topdressed the entire front lawn along with the two sides.

Lawn Prior to scalping:

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e223/cgaengineer/Topdressing/Picture009.jpg

Turf density prior to scalping (scalped to 1/2")

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e223/cgaengineer/Topdressing/Picture011.jpg

Lawn during scalping:

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e223/cgaengineer/Topdressing/Picture008.jpg

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e223/cgaengineer/Topdressing/Picture010.jpg

Sand application:

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e223/cgaengineer/Topdressing/Picture017.jpg

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e223/cgaengineer/Topdressing/Picture020.jpg

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e223/cgaengineer/Topdressing/Picture021.jpg

It rained just as we were finishing:

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e223/cgaengineer/Topdressing/Picture018.jpg

I have a few spots to repair due to yesterdays torrential downpour (1" of rain) and plan to get
another yard of sand to repair these areas.

[All_Toro_4ME]

Looks absolutely terrible.... (kidding) That lawn has come a long ways and is really shaping up. Nice work....

[cgaengineer]

Looks absolutely terrible.... (kidding) That lawn has come a long ways and is really shaping up. Nice work....

Thanks A,

It actually looks terrible now after some of the sand washed away from the buckets of rain yesterday!! Im going to broom/rake it tomorrow...if I need more sand I will get another yard or so...I'm not giving into the rain gods!!

[dave k]

Outstanding!:clapping:

[bigslick7878]

I have to ask because I am not familiar with southern type grasses,why the sand??

Up here we would never top dress with sand of any sort for any reason that I know of,usually a compost or something like that.

Is it a special type of sand? What does it have in it that helps a lawn??

Confused.

[cgaengineer]

I have to ask because I am not familiar with southern type grasses,why the sand??

Up here we would never top dress with sand of any sort for any reason that I know of,usually a compost or something like that.

Is it a special type of sand? What does it have in it that helps a lawn??

Confused.

Bermuda and other southern grasses can be topdressed with a few light applications of sand to level or smooth out a lawn. This particular sand is a river sand with a mix of large and small particals. You are correct that you cannot topdress cool season grasses with sand.

[cgaengineer]

Outstanding!:clapping:

Thanks Dave, I also appreciate the use of your stiff bristled broom. After I finish my accounts today I am going to get another yard of sand to fill in the eroded areas and also scalp the island and re-topdress it. I was a bit upset with the rain on Tuesday and all the hard work that went into the job and some areas getting ruined, but all in all the job still looks pretty good...hopefully we wont have a freakin flood for a couple days while the grass comes in and the sand settles.

[hmartin]

CGA,

Will you describe the processes that you went through to do this job? Is there anything you would have done differently? Was a certain part of it really a pain?

What did you use to spread the sand?

I have about 1.5 acres of bermuda that is pretty smooth but could be better. I can buy fill sand with very few rocks locally for about $150 for 20 tons delivered and have access to a bobcat and a large tractor. In my area, chicken farms will give away manure as long as you pay for the hauling. I don't want to spend a ton of money on hiring someone to topdress 1.5 acres. I am just trying to figure out the best way to do it myself.

[Smallaxe]

What does the sand do for Bermuda that it would not do for cool season grasses? You are dealing with clay soils, correct?
Looks promising BTW. :)

Next month's pictures will tell the complete story...

:laugh: If you end up with concrete, adobe, or brick... let us know... :laugh:

[cgaengineer]

CGA,

Will you describe the processes that you went through to do this job? Is there anything you would have done differently? Was a certain part of it really a pain?

What did you use to spread the sand?

I have about 1.5 acres of bermuda that is pretty smooth but could be better. I can buy fill sand with very few rocks locally for about $150 for 20 tons delivered and have access to a bobcat and a large tractor. In my area, chicken farms will give away manure as long as you pay for the hauling. I don't want to spend a ton of money on hiring someone to topdress 1.5 acres. I am just trying to figure out the best way to do it myself.

The process was pretty easy, but it was hard manual labor. What I did was load the sand from the pile in my driveway into a trailer on my 4 wheeler. I would then deposit the sand in piles on the lawn and push them out with the back of a landscape rake. I had originally started slinging the sand but quickly realized it was more work to sling shovel then to push the landscape rake. I have also built a lute for the project with an 8' 2x4 and a handle from an old hand tool. The lute worked great for the flatter areas and allowed me to get those areas smooth as a baby's butt.After the sand was distributed I used the back of a wire rake to force the grass blades to the surface. The first rain really helped the sand settle, the second rain however, caused me great heartache as I lost some sand into areas down grade. I have some areas I will re-topdress tomorrow and everything should be fine.

For 1.5 acres you would probably be best to rent a topdressing machine and a Dingo to load it unless you don't mine doing it the way I did it. Like I said before, it was not difficult to do it my way, but it was hard work. Another thing I thought of, if you have a tractor and you are good with the bucket and can easily control the amount of sand you dump you could probably deposit the sand very quickly this way. I would then suggest a drag mat for a lot that size.

Feel free to contact me via this thread or pm for additional questions.

[cgaengineer]

What does the sand do for Bermuda that it would not do for cool season grasses? You are dealing with clay soils, correct?
Looks promising BTW. :)

Next month's pictures will tell the complete story...

:laugh: If you end up with concrete, adobe, or brick... let us know... :laugh:

I am not sure about this but I think the reason you cannot topdress cool season grasses with sand is because the root system is shallower. Also the aggressive growing habits of warm season grasses allow the lawn to recover quickly.

As far as the sand addition to clay to form concrete...I have heard it, but I call BS on it. In my front gardens is where the sand pile was when they did the stonework, its some of the easiest digging soil around...anywhere in my front garden I can grab a full scoop with a shovel. The main problem you would really have to consider is the addition of so much sand that when it rains the water would percolate through the soil very quickly with just about no benefit to the grass, I dont think this is a problem with a light topdressing of 1/4" to 1.5" even. The purpose of the sand is to smooth the lawn, not to fill in deep holes. If you have deep holes you should fill them with a similar soil.

You also have to consider that an application to the surface of the lawn will take many years to work its way into the soil profile, if ever.

[Smallaxe]

I am not sure about this but I think the reason you cannot topdress cool season grasses with sand is because the root system is shallower. Also the aggressive growing habits of warm season grasses allow the lawn to recover quickly.

As far as the sand addition to clay to form concrete...I have heard it, but I call BS on it. In my front gardens is where the sand pile was when they did the stonework, its some of the easiest digging soil around...anywhere in my front garden I can grab a full scoop with a shovel. The main problem you would really have to consider is the addition of so much sand that when it rains the water would percolate through the soil very quickly with just about no benefit to the grass, I dont think this is a problem with a light topdressing of 1/4" to 1.5" even. The purpose of the sand is to smooth the lawn, not to fill in deep holes. If you have deep holes you should fill them with a similar soil.

You also have to consider that an application to the surface of the lawn will take many years to work its way into the soil profile, if ever.

Yes, I agree, that we don't cover grass too deeply. I personally only go about 1/2 inch at a time, whether sand or topsoil.
I use sand as a mulch to hold water on top of compacted heavy soils.

[cgaengineer]

Yes, I agree, that we don't cover grass too deeply. I personally only go about 1/2 inch at a time, whether sand or topsoil.
I use sand as a mulch to hold water on top of compacted heavy soils.

So are you topdressing cool season grasses with sand Smallaxe? If so I would like to hear any issues you have experienced. I have a small area of fescue on heat tolerant blue that I would like to add sand to.

[Smallaxe]

Not sure if fescue roots can expand into the sand the way KBG does , but at 1/2" I never killed any grass, that I'm aware of.

[cgaengineer]

Not sure if fescue roots can expand into the sand the way KBG does , but at 1/2" I never killed any grass, that I'm aware of.

I cannot think of a media easier to grow in then sand so I cant see the problem...besides with a topdress application the roots should be below the sand surface anyway. I wonder if the cool season grass topdress with sand is nothing but BS and its in fact ok to do so?

[unity]

cga, how did you calculate the amount of sand you would need, and how much did the sand cost you(i realize prices will vary for my area)? also, if you had not finished your project right before rainfall, would you have watered the lawn to help the sand settle?

btw, i think it looks great so far. i cant wait to see pictures after the grass has filled back in.

[cgaengineer]

cga, how did you calculate the amount of sand you would need, and how much did the sand cost you(i realize prices will vary for my area)? also, if you had not finished your project right before rainfall, would you have watered the lawn to help the sand settle?

btw, i think it looks great so far. i cant wait to see pictures after the grass has filled back in.

For figuring sq yards this calculator makes it really easy http://aggieturf.tamu.edu/aggieturf2/calculators/topdress-sheet.html

6 Yards of river sand delivered was $331

I had started to water lawn after install so that I could get a break from manual labor so yes I would have finished watering to settle it in had we not received rain.

The lawn has actually looks pretty good right now and is coming in very well. I will post pictures this evening as I forgot to take them this morning before work. From a short distance you can no longer see the sand. I will likely cut it this weekend.

[cgaengineer]

Topdressing 5 days later. I cut it at about 5/8" tonight. Picture quality is not that good as it was starting to get dark so I will take some shots tomorrow in better light.

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e223/cgaengineer/Topdressing/Picture013.jpg

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e223/cgaengineer/Topdressing/Picture014.jpg

[jmoore16135]

Native soil (clay) Little League infield, aerated first then topdressed with 2+ yards of sand.
149851

Little over a week later.

149852

This field is at a elementary school and is their main kickball field and only a baseball in the evenings and weekends. And this is cool season grass, perennial rye.

[terrapro]

Well that solves that(insert dusting hands smily here).