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

A deep moist loam suits them best; and as the plants grow and bloom, add bone meal and top-dress with manure.

From Manual of Gardening (Second Edition) by L. H. (Liberty Hyde) Bailey

In the autumn, rake the mulch away and top-dress the soil on both sides for the space of two or three feet outward from the stems with well-decayed manure.

From The Home Acre by Edward Payson Roe

It may be desirable to top-dress with gypsum near the end of the rainy season to stimulate the growth of the plant.

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

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

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

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

When a piece of land is to be planted in sweet potatoes, it should be top-dressed with some manure, to be dug or ploughed under a week or two before it is to be planted.

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

This is no mere top-dressing — not a mulch layer, but a deliberate foundation 4 or 5 inches deep into which the garden is planted.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 21, 2022

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

It should be clipped in the spring, April or May being the best months, and a top-dressing about the same time will be very beneficial to it.

From Trees and Shrubs for English Gardens by Ernest Thomas Cook