# Top Dressing vs Sand on Zoysia lawn



## Lawn Smith (Jun 8, 2020)

Hi all,

I have a 3 year old zeon zoysia lawn that I have been mowing with a rotary mower. I cut it down to 1" last week to get ready for a reel mower (haven't bought the mower yet or else I would cut it lower). It was fertilized and aerated a couple weeks ago also.

My question is, is now a good time to level too? My yard is pretty level overall but I would like it to get it to the point where HOC is 0.5" or below. I've read about top dressing and sand leveling and wanted to get yall's opinion on what I should do, if anything?

Thanks in advanced.


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## Greendoc (Mar 24, 2018)

Now is a good time to do it. No more frost. No more cold weather. Sanding is going to be a great thing.


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## lucas287 (Jun 3, 2018)

I vote straight sand. Maybe I have bad luck but the top dressing around here seems to have a lot of crap in it. Might be fine for your standard 2-4" HOC lawn but a .5" piece of mulch looks ridiculous on a reel low lawn


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## Greendoc (Mar 24, 2018)

Grass creates its own organic matter. No need to put partially decomposed organic matter on top of it. Straight sand is my vote too. Materials with partially decomposed organic matter also do do not stay level once laid. When the material finishes decomposing, it shrinks.


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## Lawn Smith (Jun 8, 2020)

Thanks for the replies. Sounds like sand is the way to go.

What do you all recommend for HOC before the sand goes down? I figure the shorter the easier to spread but also don't want to suffocate the grass. Is there a good happy medium with zoysia?


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## Twodollarblue (May 26, 2020)

I'm in the same boat on the HOC question. My lawn is really bumpy and think I could get more sand down if the HOC was higher. Is this the correct logic or should we just scalp it all the way down? If I scalp all the way down do I try and leave the stolons exposed since there won't be any shoots of grass to leave poking through the sand?


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## Lawn Smith (Jun 8, 2020)

That makes sense to me because if you have a 1.5" dip and the grass was 1" it would be drowned out by .5".

The only problem I see is how much harder it will be to get the sand down in there good and deep with long zoysia. I've never done it though but seems like it would be a nightmare.

Maybe the solution is to do a little every year and get the yard more and more level each time?


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## Greendoc (Mar 24, 2018)

I scalp down to dirt before sand leveling. Otherwise, the thatch gets in the way. It is also harder to find where it is not level/


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## jayhawk (Apr 18, 2017)

Lawn Smith said:


> That makes sense to me because if you have a 1.5" dip and the grass was 1" it would be drowned out by .5".
> 
> The only problem I see is how much harder it will be to get the sand down in there good and deep with long zoysia. I've never done it though but seems like it would be a nightmare.


It is a fist fight. Put a couple washers on to get a lower cut ... Spread sand, let it dry all day and then do some final passes. 
Result will be much improved for a 1.5" cut


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## Lawn Smith (Jun 8, 2020)

What hoc would you recommend sanding on?


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## Redtwin (Feb 9, 2019)

Lawn Smith said:


> What hoc would you recommend sanding on?


The lowest cut you can get with your mower, even if it means hitting dirt in some spots. Bag the clippings then spread the sand. You'll appreciate the hard work in a couple of weeks.


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