Top dressing your lawn is a great way to improve the overall health and appearance of your lawn. By spreading a thin layer of a mixture of soil, sand and humous over the surface of your lawn, you can fill in any bald spots, help the grass grow thicker, and keep it healthy and looking good all year long. When you top dress your lawn this can also help to control weed growth and moisture levels, making it a valuable addition to any lawn care routine.

What are the benefits when you top dress your lawn?

• Will give you a leveller lawn by filling minor hollows.
• Top dressing helps to improve soil structure, water retention and drainage.
• It can also help to control weed growth and improve the overall appearance of the lawn.
• By using a good topdressing each year you will likely require less fertiliser and pesticides.

When should you top dress your lawn?

A topdressing should be done during the growing periods, this can be done between April and October. Many people choose to top dress in late Spring or early Autumn.

What should your top dressing be made up of?

Here are the three main components you should look for when choosing a top dressing mix:

1. Compost: This is a key ingredient that provides nutrients and organic matter.
2. Sand: This provides stability and drainage.
3. Topsoil: This will help level out the ground.

Standard Mixes

Our top dressing mixture is a 70:30 mix. If you would like any more information regarding this please see the Top Dressing product page.

5 Steps to applying the top dressing to your lawn

1. Step 1: Mown your lawn. This will help the top dressing work into the soil below. Remember to remove the clippings.
2. Step 2: Rake over the lawn, either using a power rake or aerator to open up channels for the top dressing to enter.
3. Step 3: Using a spade, fling the mixture onto the lawn. Ensure it is evenly spread throughout.
4. Step 4: Once it is across the lawn you want to work it into the lawn with the back of a rake or a lute. This will ensure the top dressing is spread evenly and prevent new bumps from being created.
5. Step 5: If there is no rain forecast ensure the top dressing gets a light shower to help it into the ground.

Now it is time to be patient and wait for the topdressing to do its magic.

If you still have questions regarding how and when to topdress your lawn, contact our friendly team who will be happy to help.

Growing a lawn from seed is extremely popular and should be done between March and September. For your seed needs take a look at our Premium Lawn Seed Mix. Here are some handy tips to grow a lawn from seed.

Prepare the ground to grow a lawn from seed

Start by removing any old turf. Dig the area over, removing any weeds and large stones. You may wish at this point to add organic matter, like our worm castings. This will help to enrich the soil, so your seeds have all the nutrients they need to thrive. 

Rake it over ensuring the lumps are broken down. You will then need to tread the ground. Repeat this process until you have an even area with no bumps or hollows and are happy with the ground. 

Just like preparing any seedbed, rake it over one last time to a fine tilth. 

Sowing 

There are two main methods for seeding. Always remember to read the seed packet before starting to ensure you know how much seed should be used in an area. 

Sowing by hand 

The first method that is best for a small area is sowing by hand. You may wish to measure out and mark each 1m square with canes or string. This can help to ensure you are putting the right amount in each meter square. 

Try measuring out what you need for a meter square into a cup and using this as your guide to preventing having to keep measuring. Sprinkle the seed over the area, one way and then the other to ensure even coverage. 

Sowing with a fertiliser spreader 

If you are planning to seed a large area you may wish to look at a fertiliser spreader. These handy machines will make the process much quicker, and you should get an even spread when used correctly. 

Simply follow the instructions on the spreader and seed packet. Ensuring you are putting the right amount in for your area, and you continue to move and not allow too much to drop in one place. 

After sowing 

You want the seed to be amongst the soil. Do this by raking the seeds in after sowing, then firm down by foot. Then give the area a light watering; you want to continue to water your seeded area for six weeks unless rain has fallen. 

And that is all there is to grow a lawn from seed

We hope this helped with how to grow a lawn from seed; should you have any other questions regarding the sowing of a lawn we are always here to help. 

A meadow of wildflowers can be a beautiful addition to your garden. But before you go ahead and plant one, you need to know how to prepare the ground for a wildflower meadow.

There’s more to getting the ground ready than you might think. In this post, we’re going to share out step-by-step guide on how to prepare the ground for a wildflower meadow. Whether you have chosen the instant effect with wildflower turfing or seeding, the preparation is the same. Preparation should start six weeks before you plan to lay the turf or seeding to ensure the best results.

Prepare the ground for a wildflower garden

1. Step 1: Spraying / Uplifting
2. Step 2: Rotavate / Breakup Soil
3. Step 3: Check back for weeds
4. Step 4: Rake over
5. Step 5: Order your wildflower seed or turf

Step 1: Spraying/ Uplifting

Depending on what is already in your area you wish to have a wildflower meadow, you will need to spray off any weeds or grass or uplift them. Ensuring they have been removed, will prevent the weeds or grass from growing and overwhelming your wildflower.

If you are choosing to spray off the weeds or grass ensure you buy a strong all types of weed killer. This will likely take a couple of attempts to ensure it is all dead. Weeds and grass are surprisingly stubborn and often manage to survive initial spraying.

There are two ways you can uplift the weeds or grass from the garden. The first is probably only really doable if you have a small area to prepare. You will only need a good spade, simply dig the spade into the ground, to cut the grass or weeds into easy liftable sized pieces. Then slide the spade under the edge to lift it away from the ground. If this sounds like a lot of hard work for you, then maybe hire a turf cutter, they can be found at most machinery hire shops. These will simply but and lift at the same time without the elbow grease of the spade.

Step 2: Rotavate/ Breakup soil

Just like when laying turf or seeds for traditional turfing. You will need to break up the soil. This can be done either with a rotavator or with a fork, turning over the top 10cm of soil. Wildflowers are known for favouring poorer soils. Generally, most soils will be fine, however, if you are worried you can remove the top layer of soil.

The removal of the top layer of soil will take away the area where most of the nutrients are. This is because the top layer of all soils contains the most organic matter of all the layers of soil.

Step 3: Check back for weeds

We know what you are thinking, “I have already done this!”. Around 2-6 weeks later it’s important to remove all the weeds that have returned. Hopefully, there aren’t as many this time and you can just do this with a hoe or by hand.

Step 4: Rake over

Now you want to ensure your grounds are nice and flat. If you seed or turf a bumpy area you will end up with an uneven wildflower meadow. This can cause damage to both your meadow and mower when cutting. When seeding you want the area to be firm for the seeds to lay on.

Step 5: Order your wildflower seeds or turf

Probably the most exciting part now. Once the grounds have been prepared correctly it is time to order your wildflower. It is really important to order the right type for your garden, as choosing the wrong kind can mean minimal growth which nobody is looking for in a wildflower meadow. To know which type of wildflower seed or turf is best for your garden give our team a call.

Prepared and ready to go

We hope that our guide on how to prepare the ground for a wildflower meadow has helped. You’ll be readying the ground, planting your seeds and watching your wildflowers grow in no time. Should you need any more assistance please do not hesitate to get in touch with us.