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mossy grass
steve173
Posts: 7
WE have always had a reasonable lawn that has been cut and fed . This year we have huge areas of moss any ideas how to get rid of it without digging up and starting again
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Further to earlier post have just notice the moss is even starting to creep up trees and shrubs ....help
In the spring use a 4 in 1 spring lawn treatment - this will kill the moss and weeds and feed the grass. You'll need to rake out the dead moss and thatch and I would also spike the lawn to improve drainage.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Also clear grass from around the base of shrubs and trees. You should have a circle of bare soil around them at least a couple of feet in diameter - this should stop the moss affecting them. It will also enable you to feed, water and mulch your shrubs and stop the grass competing with them for water and nutrition.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Sounds to me like you have soil compaction and/or drainage issues that need fixing so, as well as spiking your lawn at frequent intervals by poking in a large garden fork and wiggling it back and forth to enlarge the holes you should think about getting some sharp sand to brush into the holes and maintain aeration and drainage.
Other than that, you need to do as Dove says with a suitable product and cutting back the grass round shrubs and trees. There are several proprietary products that will work as well as good old fashioned lawn sand. More info on treatments here - https://www.gardenseeker.com/lawns/lawn_sand.htm
Dove-- you recommend a 4 in 1 treatment but OP doesn't give you any indication that fertility or weeds are a problem. If he must use something to kill the moss (raking and aeration would help fix the problem), he doesn't necessarily need added chemical fertilizers nor herbicide across the entire lawn. These things do leach into groundwater and streams. If one must use herbicide, why not use it targeted on actual weeds and not across an entire area.
True enough. If the drainage problem is fixed, the moss will weaken anyway and can be raked off if the OP also doesn't like chemicals.
Last edited: 01 February 2017 11:33:44
I don't see the problem with moss. It's green, nice to walk on and generally pretty harmless. No need to use unnecessary chemicals. Be aware that the selective herbicides used in many lawn care products (e.g. the weed & feed type) have very persistent toxic residues which cause a lot of problems with contamination of e.g. peat-free composts made from composted garden waste. If you use these products the clippings must be left on the lawn - not composted and not put in green waste bins (as it should say in the small print). Better not to use these products at all.
Moss on tree & shrub bases is also harmless although it might indicate a drainage problem, in which case treat the cause rather than the moss.
In my previous garden, I had problems with moss however i was able to keep on top of it, by scarifying it in the spring. It can be done with a wire rake but this is very hard work. you can buy an electric scarifier quite cheaply. you will be amazed how much you collect. don't leave it lying around. bag it and take to the tip. It doesn't make particularly good compost. after you have finished, the lawn looks very sad, but grass has enormous powers of recovery.
You can also sprinkle Sulphate of Iron onto the lawn. it is much cheaper than using one of the lawn products. All the moss goes black and needs to be raked out.