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

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

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

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

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

It is a great nuisance for a public man who is liable to come home late at night to have to top-dress his head before he can retire.

From A Guest at the Ludlow and Other Stories by Edgar Wilson

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

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

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

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

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

Soot forms a good top-dressing; it consists principally of charcoal, but contains ammonia and a smaller proportion of phosphates and potash, whence its value as a manure is derived.

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