The stuff you are reading about 'topdressing' applies to either greens on golf courses, or warm season grasses like Bermuda or St. Augustine. For you and me, cool season grass lovers both of us, the principal goal should be to raise the level of topsoil, and keep some grass growing on that newer, higher, level of topsoil. KBG (and it's pals, PRye and TTTFescue, grow upward more than outward, generally speaking. The roots will do fine, they need topsoil to grow in: not sand. The crowns will do fine, they need to be about a half inch above the soil (not sand). Sand screws up a bunch of things, when dealing with clays and cool season grasses. One does not, unless you are a greenskeeper, need to fool around with sand, although it is surely true that if you have an elevated platform (odd enough) and grow bentgrass (even more odd) that you want to keep 'maximized' (odder still) with huge amounts of fertilizer, one can certainly get it done by adding sand to get up to a half inch (usually less) of height, here or there. But you're looking at an elevated green on a golf course. A half inch seems like the Cliffs Of Dover, and an insurmountable challenge, if you are a golfer or a greenskeeper. You and I are not. We're talking about dirt. We're talking about dirt in the yard. If you've got a low spot, and there are a few, for lots of good reasons that I won't go into here, you want a 'permanent' raise in the height of that spot, and you want bluegrass growing over, looking basically level, or on the same slope as the rest of it. "Permanent" should mean only one thing to you: NO PEAT. No organic material. No 'compost'. No 'super' soil. No 'enriched' soil. All of that happens in the top two inches of soil, where the grass is. The stuff down below is just dirt. And, if you're lucky, it is not sand. It is native topsoil, and looks just like the rest of the neighborhood's native topsoil. And, since there's no peat, there's nothing to rot away, and goof up your level. So here's the best way to achieve that, in my yard and yours. Cut your own sod. Cut the sod, with a shovel, so that each piece is about two to three inches deep, at whatever size is comfortable for you to move twice. My fave is about 9" x 9", and about three inches thick. At that point, your roots have their soil attached. And are very happy. Move the sod. Fill the low area with native topsoil, thus leveling the area, filling in the low spot, bringing the grade up to where it should be. Then put back the sod squares, at their new height. Tamp them with your foot. You're done.

It seems that everyone relates topdressing with overseeding and/or renovating their lawns. Forget that idea for the moment. Topdressing with a good compost is excellent for your lawn AT ANY TIME. It is one of the best things you can do for the health of your lawn. Topdressing with sand or native soil is good for leveling bumps and ruts in the lawn. The above topdressing practices, although good, have nothing to do with seeding or overseeding. Now lets talk renovating and overseeding. Mulching your seeds after planting on bare soil is a good idea to preserve moisture a little and maybe increase seed  soil contact. For mulching, some use clean straw, or compost (my favorite), or top soil, or sprinkle a some peat. This step is optional and controversial. Some like it, some donÂt. If you are overseeding, then topdressing is even less necessary because there is already grass and thatch in the lawn helping to hold moisture. But as I said before topdressing with compost is one of the best things one can do for their lawn. It is "old school" organic lawn care. There is nothing better. Labor intensive, yes, but well worth it. Bill Hill

I did what you suggest over some heavy clay against a fence and filled along the fence with pure compost. I planted okra. Granted, earlier we had many, many days over 100 degrees, but if I had not watered DAILY I would have no okra. High OM content compost drinks quickly but also evaporates quickly, just as sand would. On top of heavy clay, little of the water applied to the compost had a chance to really penetrate the clay. Tilling the OM into the clay opens it up, allowing better rooting, more water absorption and oxygen penetration. Now it has cooled down, and because I have "spoiled" plants that basically didn't have to root out except in the layer of compost, I still have to water every other day. Point is, if I had of tilled the OM down the okra would have done much better with less water. When frost gets the okra I will turn in the earlier layer and add another, turning it in as well. If you have heavy clay and want productive growth the way it must be dealt with is different. Guess that's the way I see it. hortster

David and I agree on most tips, but differ some here. The biggest boost I ever did for any yard I owned came after topdressing at 1 cubic yard per thousand square feet. But, keep in mind, it all depends on what you have now. If you have a soil with organic matter and lots of bio-diversity already (meaning it hasn't been nuked too much by over application of chemicals and chemical fertilizers) you may not see much benefit from topdressing with a good compost. If your yard is on the other end, I think at least one application of a good compost is the best way to start an organic approach. But, the cost and hard work involved is fairly high. After one app, I would imagine compost tea and organic fertilzers could make the need for additional apps few and far between as something that is needed, rather than desired for best effect.