Too Much Lawn Dressing!

by Deb
(San Antonio, TX)

A landscaper apply a quality lawn dressing to my yard and it is way too thick. I think I have lost yard completely. The St Augustine has been in my San Antonio yard for 18 years. The back had some bare patches and soil had washed, but the front was OK (wanted better).

I cannot water in the lawn dressing. Can the entire yard be re-sodded over lawn dressing?--or--any suggestions?

Hi Deb. Thanks for the question.

Yes, you can sod or seed directly over lawn dressing. Of course this is a pretty general statement. Every situation is different and to offer sound advice, It helps to physically be there to assess a situation.

I can offer a combination of material, suggestions, and a few questions for you so you can decide on what will work best for you and your particular situation.

About 2 years ago we saw a great need to build some material on lawn repair. It included a 12 section article on the various options from reseeding, to adding sod over old grass.

We looked at each one and determined that MOST options would work well depending on the preparation work, the time, and the budget of each person.

Another important factor is understanding your drainage and existing soil conditions before you begin any repair.

In the article we talked about the things that would increase your level of success depending on which repair option you chose.

The main page can be viewed here.

https://www.dream-yard.com/lawn-problems.html

All the links for options will be at the bottom of this introduction page.

You may want this link in particular for your situation.

https://www.dream-yard.com/adding-soil-over-grass.html#.U0qu7H5zbmI

Since you already have a heavy layer of Topdressing down,

How much is too thick for lawn dressing? 1 inch? 3 inches?

Generally, anything over 1/2 inch is too heavy for applying topdressing. Topdressing to improve your lawn soil should be done gradually and seasonally in thin layers.

After having a number of questions on Topdressing over the last couple of years, we decided it would be another good addition to the site. It worked well with the Lawn Repair material.

Topdressing lawns can be seen at this link.

https://www.dream-yard.com/topdressing-lawn.html#.U0qlsn5zbmI

How long has it been since the topdressing was laid down, and how much old grass has grown through?

What is your budget?
Will you be doing the work yourself?
You mentioned some areas of washout, so will sodding over the existing conditions bring about similar problems to what you already have without modifying drainage?

In the end, I would suggest determining these 3 things.

1. Why did your lawn fail?
2. What resources you have. (Time and Money)
3. What method of repair will give you the highest success rate given your unique situation.

Best of luck with your yard.

Dream-Yard team.