This is my first post. I have read alot on this site and have learned plenty. I wanted to share some pics of my top dressing project. My back yard had a significant amount of crabgrass, common bermuda with some over seeding of better bermuda (although not sure what I put down last year), and not much to look at. I used a small garden disc to "scratch-up" the surface after I sprayed the CB with MSMA (I know, not organic), core areated the dog out of it, top dressed with compost (about 1 inch), re-areated to mix compost into soil, seeded with Pennington bermuda (Sahara, have dogs and need good wear and in Texas need drought resistent), raked in seed to cover, and watered for about 2 to 3 weeks.
It turned out pretty good. The toughest part was spreading the compost. I dumped piles of compost and then spread with a dirt rake. I have about an acre and a half, and going forward, I will use my new aquisition I bought at a city auction, a Turfco Meter Matic top dresser. Although an overkill, it was definitely worth the purchase after spreading by hand.
I plan to areate again this fall, overseed, the front yard with maybe Pennington Princess, and the rest with a little nicer blend than Sahara, spray with ICT Compost Tea, lightly top dress to cover the seed, spray with ICT corn glutin this coming spring for pre-emergence (instead of stuff like MSMA), and see what happens.
I've been really encouraged by what I've seen so far. We use to use synthetic fert with pre-emergence, and our lawn looked like crap. Bare spots, weeds, and crabgrass. Since top dressing, I've been using Milorgaite and have a very green lawn. Some pics below:
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It turned out pretty good. The toughest part was spreading the compost. I dumped piles of compost and then spread with a dirt rake. I have about an acre and a half, and going forward, I will use my new aquisition I bought at a city auction, a Turfco Meter Matic top dresser. Although an overkill, it was definitely worth the purchase after spreading by hand.
I plan to areate again this fall, overseed, the front yard with maybe Pennington Princess, and the rest with a little nicer blend than Sahara, spray with ICT Compost Tea, lightly top dress to cover the seed, spray with ICT corn glutin this coming spring for pre-emergence (instead of stuff like MSMA), and see what happens.
I've been really encouraged by what I've seen so far. We use to use synthetic fert with pre-emergence, and our lawn looked like crap. Bare spots, weeds, and crabgrass. Since top dressing, I've been using Milorgaite and have a very green lawn. Some pics below:
