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

If the soil is heavy, top-dress with grit in the fall.

From Making A Rock Garden by Adams, H. S. (Henry Sherman)

I am in the dairy business and will have by winter enough manure to top-dress the field.

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

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 Collins, Wilkie

The accumulation of the winter is usually applied to the land for the corn crop, except the finer portion, which is used to top-dress meadow land.

From Peat and its Uses as Fertilizer and Fuel by Johnson, Samuel W. (Samuel William)

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 Keane, William

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 Simmonds, P. L.

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 Simmonds, P. L.

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 Falconer, William

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

In the majority of cases it will be advisable, however, not to apply it as a top-dressing, for the various reasons above-mentioned.

From Manures and the principles of manuring by Aikman, Charles Morton