Forum home› Problem solving
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

moss

Kit3131Kit3131 Posts: 6
in Problem solving

Please can anyone recommend the best chemical to use on garden tarmac paths covered in moss.

The paths are surrounded by lawns and flower beds.

Last year I used 'pathclear' which was rubbish.

Thank you

«1

Posts

  • bobisherebobishere Posts: 13
    if i were you i would collect it and use it for my bonsai. the best chemical would be the industrial kind but hardly good for the environment. roundup may be good however I have not tested it myself.
  • Blue OnionBlue Onion Posts: 2,995

    Use a flat shovel to scrape off the big chunks, then a pressure washer.  

    Utah, USA.
  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,445

    The birds can line their nest with that, best without poisonsimage



    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • Kit3131Kit3131 Posts: 6

    Thanks for the advise - think i will try the pressure washer if my hose is long enough!

    The moss is very thin so scraping it does not make any difference and I have scrubbed it with a stiff broom but it does not last long.

    Cheers 

  • Zoomer44Zoomer44 Posts: 3,267

    If you hadn't posted first Kit3131, my advise would have been a stiff brush to take the top off the moss followed by a pressure wash to clear out any soil in the tarmac.

    I have the same problem with moss on tarmac paths and go through the same process on consecutive weekends.   

  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,384

    I'd also go with the pressure washer.  Note that mosses are in a completely different family to most plants, so standard weedkillers will have little or no effect, as you have found.  Ferrous Sulphate (Sulphate of Iron) solution is a relatively innocuous moss killer (it's the active ingredient in lawn moss treatments) and a spray of a solution of that after power-washing the paths should help delay the moss in returning.  A1kg tub costs under 10 pounds and will treat several hundred square metres.

    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • Tropical SamTropical Sam Posts: 1,488

    Low Sodium salt will kill moss - just add a few table spoons into a bucket with a pinch of bleach and brush it over the area and it will die back. It is the Potassium in Low-Sodium salt that kills moss so it does not work with normal sea salt.

  • Kit3131Kit3131 Posts: 6

    Thanks Bobthegardener and Blairs - I have just watched a clip on You Tube showing a lady using soda crystals to kill moss.

    I will have a go next week ...so fingers crossed!

  • Jane SircombeJane Sircombe Posts: 7

    Patio Magic will shift even the thickest moss, use it every year on all hard surfaces.

    dont try to power wash tarmac , eventually you'll break it up.

    most economical method use a garden pressure spray 1 to5 water.

    thick carpet like moss will turn brown and eventually dry out and disappear.

     

     

Sign In or Register to comment.