Sand and clipping volume

Updated March 1, 2026

We have written about site-specific and seasonal sand topdressing rate adjustment based on growth potential:

Sand and Growth Potential, with spreadsheets

Another approach is to keep track of how much the grass has grown, and after growth reaches a threshold, make a sand application.

In 2020, I suggested that 1 mm of sand for every 1 L of clipping volume collected per m² might be a reasonable amount of sand to add to keep surface organic material constant. That’s 1,000 mL of sand added for every 1,000 mL of clippings harvested. It turns out to be a little more complicated than that. When the soil organic matter is low, you need to add more sand to keep it that way.

I’ve updated this recommendation in 2026 with the table below, showing the quantity of sand needed for every 1 L of clipping volume per m², based on your soil’s total organic material (OM246). Remember the OM246 calculator includes a unit conversion table to instantly convert between common sand units.

TOM %	Sand (mm)
3.0	3.4
3.5	2.9
4.0	2.5
4.5	2.2
5.0	2.0
5.5	1.8
6.0	1.7
6.5	1.5
7.0	1.4
7.5	1.3
8.0	1.2
8.5	1.1
9.0	1.1
9.5	1.0
10.0	1.0
10.5	0.9
11.0	0.9
11.5	0.8
12.0	0.8
12.5	0.7
13.0	0.7
13.5	0.7
14.0	0.7
14.5	0.6
15.0	0.6

More information

Try the sand topdressing rate US units spreadsheet
Try the sand topdressing rate metric units spreadsheet
Reference on Turf Growth Potential (GP)
Reference on topdressing sand