On just about every Radio Show Weekend on GardenLine, I answer dozens of questions about compost top-dressing. I must have answered a thousand questions on that topic over the years. Then, in recent days, my email was peppered by folks a little nervous that they missed some things in the lawn fertilization schedule that I suggested might be done a bit early this year. And a few weeks ago, I remember answering lots of questions about the order in which products should be applied.
This morning, I remembered that about four years ago I typed up an article about “Randy-isms” – answers that could be applied to just about every springtime lawn care question. I prefer to call them GardenLine “tenets” – you can call them whatever you want – but here they are again.
“It’s never too late to do the right thing.”
“It just doesn’t matter.”
“Stick to The Schedule for one full year.”
“Compost top-dressing is the only top-dressing these days.”
“Call me for clarification” (or come talk to me in person at a personal appearance).
Let’s see how many apply to the questions below:
- If it’s been years since a top-dressing, when should I do it this year? (1 & 4)
- And what’s the best top-dressing these days? (4)
- Since we didn’t have any real “winter,” when should we aerate this year? (1 & 2)
- With winter not really being typical, should I do a compost top-dressing now or later? (1, 2 & 4)
- I need to do both the pre-emergent and the early green up. In what order do I put them down? (2)
- My dad used to use bank sand to top dress yards. Where can I get that? (4)
- If I have enriched topsoil, can I use that as a top-dressing? (4 & 5)
- I used to think the early green-up had to be done by March 1, but the lack of winter and a still green-lawn made me forget about it this year. Can I still do it, I even though it’s nearly mid-March? (1 & 3)
- I’m going to try following your schedule this year. Where do I begin? (2, 3 & 5)
- Should I get a product down before heavy rain? If I get a lot of rain, do I need to re-apply? (1, 2 & 3)
- If I’m going to do everything this weekend that I missed in February, in what order should I put things down? (2 & 3)
- When’s the best time for a fertilizer? When’s the best time for a pre-emergent? Did I miss the early part of the schedule? Am I going to miss the first slow-release fertilizer, if I applied the early green-up too late? (1, 2, 3, 4 & 5)
- If I missed everything on your schedule since last summer, what do I do first this year? (1, 3 & 5)