# Top Dressing after Aerating Clay



## voidsherpa (Aug 16, 2020)

I have a heavy clay soil and I intend to rake the plugs this year. What is the best material to top dress with to improve the soil quality. I'm leaning towards Peat Moss and Black Topsoil Mix, but am not sure if I should go with mason sand, or a (20% sand, 80% peat and black topsoil mix), compost, or a compost/peat/black topsoil mix. I intend to overseed right afterwords if that makes a difference, but I am looking for what will make the best long term improvements on compacted clay soil.


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## wors (Feb 2, 2019)

Here is a great article on improving soils with compost. Do you know your current OM %? Adding compost will help create soil structure by aggregating the particles together and increase the infiltration rate. A quality compost is key and the guide points out what to look for. You want to spread 1/4" then aerate. This helps mix the compost and clay.

https://extension.psu.edu/using-composts-to-improve-turf-performance


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## voidsherpa (Aug 16, 2020)

I did a soil test in the Spring and it had Organic Matter at 7.7%


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