Best Sand for Top Dressing a Lawn

Maintaining a healthy lawn means you have to think through so many of the decisions you make regarding your lawn. One of the things you can do is top dressing, and this involves adding a top layer of sand on your lawn, so the grassroots is better.

Even though some people are against this, it is one of the best ways to ensure your lawn is looked after. Getting the right soil for your top-dress will ensure you make the most out of the entire exercise. Here is everything you need to know about topdressing and why sand is the best soil for that job.

Table of Contents show

Why top dress your lawn

While you might have never given your lawn a second thought, there is a reason why your lawn does not look like a golf course. Golf courses are topdressed, and these are the main reasons why you should as well:

It makes the lawn look even. There is nothing as bad as an uneven-looking lawn. Grass grows better on one side and has the other looking off. For instance, if your land is sloppy, top dressing on the lower side ensures it does not get soggy fast.
It prevents thatching. Certain types of grass form thatch. The only way to deal with them is to topdress it, so the thatch does not stick on your clothes and pets.
Fix holes. If you look around your lawn and see holes, you will need to fill them up. Sand makes a great addition to such holes. All you have to do is fill up the holes and then plant grass over them.
It improves the drought tolerance of your soil, meaning your soil will not dry out quickly during summer.
You can incorporate nutrients into your top-dress combination, so the grass underneath gets nourished in the process.
It helps develop a better root structure for your grass.

Types of soil used for top dressing

Now that you know why people top-dress their lawn, you need to know the different types of soil used for top dressing. Even though people prefer sand, there are other options for top dressing and learning about them helps you figure out which one is superior to the others. Here are the main soils used when top dressing.

Sand. Sandy soil is commonly used for top dressing, especially golf courses and manmade gardens. It is best to use coarse sand instead of finer particles.
Topsoil. Topsoil is similar to the soil in the lawn and can be used when you are skeptical about using sand.
Compost. Compost is used when you want something light and still have enough nutrients for your grass to peak through. Finding compost to cover a huge lawn might be hard because of the prices.

Even though these soils all have their perks, sometimes one can use all of them in combination. That way, you get all the benefits the soil had to offer.

Reasons why sand is the best as a top dresser

Even though there is a variety in the market, many people prefer to use sand as their top dresser. Here are the main reasons it makes the best option when you want to top-dress.

Sand helps improve the porosity of the soil. Too much organic material tends to weigh the soil down and will lead to the soil retaining too much water, which is not good for the grass.
Sand improves the firmness of the soil. Soil with way too much organic matter might be healthy, but it can get very spongy. Roots have an issue with such soil, and adding some sand at the top will help deal with the issue.
Sand helps the roots grow deeper. The roots can grow deeper into the soil through aeration, which will go a long way to ensure the grass doesn’t get washed away or uprooted easily.
It helps heal the turf and prevents algae growth so your grass can grow healthy without thinking.