top-dress
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Etymology
Origin of top-dress
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
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 Bailey, L. H. (Liberty Hyde)
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 Roe, Edward Payson
If the soil is heavy, top-dress with grit in the fall.
From Making A Rock Garden by Adams, H. S. (Henry Sherman)
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
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.
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
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
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
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
In double-plowing, if the subsoil be very poor, it will be necessary to give a top-dressing of well-rotted manure, worked in with a cultivator.
From Soil Culture by Walden, J. H.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
