Weed/Moss Advice for complete beginner!

littleme96

We have recently moved and have now got our first garden! Have lots of plans for planting veg etc in pots, but also really need to sort the lawn out as it's covered in weeds and moss which have clearly been there for a long time...

What is the best way to go about this? Should we use a weedkiller or is it better to go chemical free and manually remove them all with a hoe or similar tool? Is the best way to get rid of the moss to apply a moss killer and then scarify the lawn with a rake or is there another way?

Any recommendations or advice on which products/chemicals to use would be appreciated.

Mortal

If it's really bad, it might be better to apply some glyphosate weedkiller the whole lawn and start again.
You really need to look at why there is so much moss. Is it in a shady place? Is it damp?

If it's in a waterlogged place, you need to address this, or you'll just be flogging a dead horse.
It often likes the shade under trees, acidic soils too.

SO basically, you need to improve the conditions for the grass.

My advice would be to:
*scarify it - raking the moss & dead thatch from the base of the grass with a spring-tined rake
*Aerate the lawn - with a garden fork, or preferably a hollow-tined fork to make deep holes all over the lawn. The hollow-tined fork removes 'plugs' of compacted soil, if you use a garden fork, spike down nice and deep, and move it back and forth to open up the hole a bit.
*Top dress - lawn sand is ideal for this, or lime-free sand that is of medium grade. This is brushed into the aeration holes to create good drainage

If the weeds haven't taken over, and you have the will power, I would suggest you look up what each weed is, and dig out by hand accordingly.
Dandelions for example have very long tap roots, and if you leave any of it in, it will re-grow. Plantain however are pretty shallow rooted, and won't re-grow from any of it's roots being left in.

With the warmer weather on it's way, I would say that as soon as you have dug up the weeds, you mix some grass seed suitable for the area (particularly if in shade) with some compost, and refill the space/hole left by the weed.
If there's a bare patch, weeds will use it, so seed it.
The added bonus to mixing the seed with compost is that the birds are less likely to nick it. If you just spread the grass seed, you must protect it from the birds or they'll just eat it.

The lawn will need a feed now and then to help it battle the weeds.

This isn't a one off treatment though. You'll need to do this at least twice a year in spring and autumn to keep the lawn healthy.

Oh, and a quick tip if you do want to kill the odd weed here and there but worried it might harm the surrounding grass or plants - cut the bottom off an old juice bottle, and place over the weed. Spray/sprinkle into this bottle, and it won't spread.

HTH

littleme96

Wow, thank you so much for the thorough reply!

As we don't own the property we are reluctant to do too much damage to the lawn, so it looks like we'll probably have to do it by hand. Where is the best place to look up the types of weeds? Is there a specific book or website which you would recommend?

There is a particular part of the lawn with lots of moss which we think is caused by waterlogging, so we have already aerated it with a fork and we have plans to scarify it although have read that you should apply mosskiller first to avoid making the problem worse?

Thanks for the tips regarding top dressing and re-seeding and the general advice. Very helpful and has given us a great starting point!

Mortal

this is a pretty good weed-spotter

red-boxer

Wow thats a great link. now i know the names of most of the weeds in my garden and how to get rid of them. The main 1 i have loads of trouble with is the horsetail, but this link doesn't tell you how to get rid of these........i know they are stubborn as i've tried for years to get rid of these and the even more stubborn couch grass.

littleme96

Thanks so much Mortal, that website is really informative.