Compost for lawns

[wsommariva]

I started my own three bin system last Fall since I have terrible soil for my flower gardens(bagged top soil) and lawn (thin layer of top soil from builder 15 years ago).

I have a hundered or so oak trees and millions of leaves, so I think I will end up with a good amount of quality compost.

I plan to first add it to my flower beds as a supplement by loosening the soil with a pitchfork and then applying. Then, I'll add to my lawn as top dressing. Question is, how much to add to my lawn? Can I use it in place of fert?

Thank you

[farmerlon]

I haven't done it myself, but I think a lot of folks strive for an application of about 1 inch, when applying compost to the lawn.

Of course, if you have a large yard, you may be limited in how much depth you can apply, unless you have a really large supply of compost.
It requires 3.1 cubic yards of material to cover 1,000 square feet with a 1 inch layer.

[DoubleDogFarm]

On the lawn, You may want to think about removing the thatch and aerating with a plugger. The aerating machine pulls plugs from the lawn and leaves them on the surface. You can compost these plugs along with the thatch. Now spread the compost over the lawn. All the small holes will fill with compost also.

Eric

[wsommariva]

Thnak you.

I have about a half acre of lawn, so I'll experiemnt a bit and add a 1/2 inch or so of compost

I aerated a few years ago. Almost killed me. So many rocks just under the soil, it was a tuff project. As far as thatch, I do rake vigorously occassinally.

[Halfway]

I have a large lawn, but I spent an hour or so just shaking shovel-fulls all over. It wasn't an inch deep, but it was visible across the entire lawn.

Within 2 weeks EVERY bit of thatch was gone! That's some good action!