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Lichen and moss growing on soil
irishgardener
Posts: 29
Hi there
Would really appreciate advice please
I have a very large shrub bed in my front garden. It is approx 2 years old
The soil was covered in moss and lichen type growths recenlty
i scraped them off and loosened the soil
I have been researching, and i think these growth arise out of compacted and wet soil.
Any ideas how i can tackle this?
0
Posts
I would use a Dutch Hoe regularly (even weekly) to cultivate the top couple of inches of the soil - not so deep that you damage the shrubs' roots, but enough to aerate the soil and break up any compaction. I'd also mulch well with good home-made compost to get a good population of earthworms working in the soil. Aeration will help the soil to dry out.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Hello, Irishgardener!
My daughter moved to Oranmore, just south of Galway, 18 months ago with her family, and is starting to make a garden round her new house so I know about the wet problem!
I garden in the Pennines in northern England, in a very shady garden. We have around 60ins of rain per year - maybe not as much as you, but it's quite wet enough...
My beds and borders are home to a huge variety of mosses and liverworts. There are parts of the garden where I let them be (some are quite pretty), and other areas where it's a constant battle to stop tiny plants from disappearing under a mat of moss.
You're right about the wet and the compaction. If you can keep the soil loose by raking or hoeing, the mosses etc can't get such a foothold. There's obviously not a lot you can do about the amount of rain... Mosses and liverworts tend to prefer poor, acid soil so if you can feed and prune your shrubs, then give them a nice thick mulch (garden compost is good), the mosses will become less of a problem, in my experience. And if you can plant some good strong groundcover plants (like ajuga, common name is bugle) that will compete with the moss.
If you have very acid soil you can apply lime, but not if you are growing lime-hating plants like rhododendrons.
Hope this helps!