top-dress

Return anything too chunky to the bin, and top-dress your plants indoors or out with the good stuff.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 8, 2023

They must plow, and sow, and top-dress, and bottom-dress, and deep-drain, and surface-drain, and all the rest of it.

From No Name by Wilkie Collins

Of course, it is far better to top-dress the rows in spring than not at all.

From Success with Small Fruits by Edward Payson Roe

One of the best methods of preventing this is to top-dress the ground with stable- manure, and hoe it in from time to time when fighting the weeds.

From The Home Acre by Edward Payson Roe

Would it be good policy to use the manure, or would it be more satisfactory to top-dress with gypsum?

From One Thousand Questions in California Agriculture Answered by Edward J. (Edward James) Wickson

We've top-dressed both several times, so balls should roll onto the greens.

From Golf Digest ● Aug. 2, 2012

Trees in pots to be shifted, or top-dressed, as may be necessary.

From In-Door Gardening for Every Week in the Year Showing the Most Successful Treatment for all Plants Cultivated in the Greenhouse, Conservatory, Stove, Pit, Orchid, and Forcing-house by William Keane

Before winter sets in see that the lawn is freely top-dressed.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 7 "Horticulture" to "Hudson Bay" by Various

After the bed has borne a little while it is top-dressed all over with a half-inch layer of fine soil.

From Mushrooms: how to grow them a practical treatise on mushroom culture for profit and pleasure by William Falconer

To insure an extra yield of this valuable grain, the soil must be highly manured, deeply ploughed, thorough cultivated and hoed, and top-dressed with lime, house ashes, and plaster.

From The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom Considered in Their Various Uses to Man and in Their Relation to the Arts and Manufactures; Forming a Practical Treatise & Handbook of Reference for the Colonist, Manufacturer, Merchant, and Consumer, on the Cultivation, Preparation for Shipment, and Commercial Value, &c. of the Various Substances Obtained From Trees and Plants, Entering into the Husbandry of Tropical and Sub-tropical Regions, &c. by P. L. Simmonds

I prefer to use compost as a top-dressing mulch since that doubles as a fertilizer and soil-health enhancer, but you could also use a 5-10-5 fertilizer sparingly.

From Salon ● May 18, 2022

A thin top-dressing is all that is needed, assuming you mulched this spring.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 13, 2021

When it’s rotted down and mature, you’ll have a material perfect for use as a potting mix or as a top-dressing for the garden.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 20, 2015

Ammonium nitrate fertilizer is also popular for top-dressing pastures at midsummer since it evaporates more slowly than some competitors.

From Slate ● Apr. 18, 2013

Applied as a top-dressing, it will do no good until a considerable quantity of rain has fallen upon it.

From Soil Culture by J. H. Walden