Lawn moss problem

SeniorSam

For years I have continued to spend on moss killers as half my lawn is in semi-shade and loves to grow moss.

Yearly treatments of the most common weed and feed, produce black moss to rake out, but it still comes back even if I try tyning and regular watering.

I thought I would share with you my surprise after trying a Belgium product called 'Mo Bacter'.

Read what the internet and newspapers say about it. It looks too good to be true, but though I would try it and after only one treatment a few weeks ago, I am amazed.

No black moss, but moss just gets eaten away and the mossy area of my lawn is fantastic.

Costs a little more at £32.99 per 20kg bag from Pitchcare.com, but I only needed half a bag and have given the rest to my daughter who has moss problems.

I have no connection with the company, but if you have similar problems with moss, just try it, but only order |Mo Bacter, do not be sold anything else. It's great.

Hope it helps you as much as me. I wont wast money on the other products now and no raking to do.

Sam

spadoosh

aren't you supposed to put lawn sand down after clearing the moss?! this is probably why you find it always comes back

Jony

just to clear up a few things

you can not Kill moss, despite these moss killer you get, as soon as the treatment wears off the moss will soak up moisture again and be as good as new.

If you are getting lots of moss usually down to 2 things, compaction or thatch, both cause excessive moisture retention which moss LOVES! Shade can also cause issues but usually if its well fed and maintained and not cut too short then it should be a problem.

sort either of the above out and your moss troubles shouldn't be as bad next year!

Jony

also quickly looking at it its just a general fertilizer (NPK are 3 things in neally all fertilizer for the lawn, other than this being low in nitrogen where most other are high I dont see how this A. EATS moss?!!?? and B. is much different to anything else? sorry for being sceptical but them saying that sprinkle this on and you don't need to scarify and your lawn will magicly appear amazing forever just rings alarm bells for me!

Lorian

I have this

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Flymo-Watt-Lawnraker-Compact-3400/dp/B00159M01W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1308146805&sr=8-1

If laughs at moss. I used to use Sulphate of iron, and often had to endure the black patches. The scarifier gives much more pleasing results.

meercatsunited

our lawn is more moss than grass and all neighbours have the same problems and spent lots of money removing it only for it to return, rather than try to remove it we are keeping it and all the wildflowers that grow in it continually changing during the year....lovely. we have sandy well draining soil and the lawn is in sun most of the day.

Jony

just to add onto what i said earlier this is copied from their description
'One of the major benefits is it destroys moss without leaving any of the unsightly black debris. The dead moss is actually digested by the bacteria (npk: 5-5-20) leaving your lawn looking healthier.'

NPK stands for Nitrogen (N) Phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K) now will someone please tell me which one of those are the bacteria?

a1cat

Jony wrote: »

just to add onto what i said earlier this is copied from their description
'One of the major benefits is it destroys moss without leaving any of the unsightly black debris. The dead moss is actually digested by the bacteria (npk: 5-5-20) leaving your lawn looking healthier.'

NPK stands for Nitrogen (N) Phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K) now will someone please tell me which one of those are the bacteria?

None are the bacteria lol that's just the nutrients

a1cat

Jony wrote: »

just to clear up a few things

you can not Kill moss, despite these moss killer you get, as soon as the treatment wears off the moss will soak up moisture again and be as good as new.

If you are getting lots of moss usually down to 2 things, compaction or thatch, both cause excessive moisture retention which moss LOVES! Shade can also cause issues but usually if its well fed and maintained and not cut too short then it should be a problem.

sort either of the above out and your moss troubles shouldn't be as bad next year!

Actually it's easy to kill moss - any of the weed 'n feeds will do it.

What is difficult is stopping it come back again particularly during a damp winter.

It will spread through spores which you can't exactly net off lol

Mosses spread in multiple ways, but unlike flowering plants, they depend on moisture to sexually reproduce. Mosses reproduce by spores, which are analogous to the flowering plant's seed; however, moss spores are single celled and more primitive than the seed. Spores are housed in the brown capsule that sits on the seta. As the spores ripen they are dispersed from the capsule, and some land in areas where there is enough moisture for them to grow. The young moss looks like a very thin tangled mass of branching green hairs. Buds will appear next on the green hairs, from which tiny stalks and slim leaves will grow. Some mosses have cups on their tops that produce sperm, these are male plants. The female counterpart has eggs between her overlapping leaves. Water is a necessity for fertilization; as the sperm become mature they have to swim to the eggs to fertilize them. The fertilized egg then produces the stalked brown capsule.

Mosses also spread asexually by sending out new shoots in the spring from last years plants as well as fragmentation. Pieces of the moss body can break off, move by wind or water, and start a new plant if moisture permits.

gardenroute

a1cat wrote: »

None are the bacteria lol that's just the nutrients

I think that was a joke to be fair.

As Jony said you can't remove moss from a lawn - you can only control it to a point where you can't see it.
Deal with the causes of moss instead of trying to kill it all the time. The reason moss takes over is that it is more suited to the conditions than grasses.

5:5:20 is unusual for a lawn feed - the K must be what kills the moss as grass really doesn't use that much. Over time it may even cause a problem as it builds up in the soil.

a1cat

gardenroute wrote: »

I think that was a joke to be fair.

As Jony said you can't remove moss from a lawn - you can only control it to a point where you can't see it.
Deal with the causes of moss instead of trying to kill it all the time. The reason moss takes over is that it is more suited to the conditions than grasses.

5:5:20 is unusual for a lawn feed - the K must be what kills the moss as grass really doesn't use that much. Over time it may even cause a problem as it builds up in the soil.

Removing is not the same verb as killing.

Moss as a living organism can easily be killed. That particular bit of moss cannot miraculously come back to life as Jony thinks.

But when you've got lots of moss, you've clearly got conditions that moss likes to live in and they'll be back :D:D:D:D

Agreed - solution is changing those conditions but in many gardens that's pretty difficult.