Our lawn is 7000 sq ft. Top dressing would require 7 Cu. Yds. of compost, or, to put it into perspective, Ninety-eight 2 Cu. Ft. bags of compost. That runs a minimum of $300. I've seen some better bulk prices, but that too is still out of our price range.

My question is, are there any alternatives to topdressing with compost that will have same overall benefits and be less costly?
Ziroth

I have used Medina Soil Activator and EW Pro to good sucess. Areas that had standing water after every rain now perculate very well. This is on 4 acres of turf.

The biggest advantage of compost is to get the microbes out of it and into your soil. You can do that with compost tea. The tea goes on at a rate of 20 gallons per acre. You can make 20 gallons of tea starting with 1 gallon of compost. The best compost teas are aerated with bubblers. Most home tea brewers use aquarium equipment to bubble their tea. The pros have real air pumps but don't get much better air distribution.

Flip over to the compost forum for more details on compost tea.

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David Hall
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