moss in the lawn

loulou41

Same thing happened to me, I treated the lawn with moss kill and fertiliser and thought I did a good job. It did look messy at the beginning. Taking a walk in the garden this morning, I have noticed the moss is overtaking the lawn. The lawn was recently returfed by a landscape gardener and he has not done a good job of it, it seems worst now. I am going to try to leave it and see.

markl_4

Hi,

If you've got moss in your lawn, you need to treat the cause or it will come back. And during treating it properly you will probably have up to a year of rubbish looking 'lawn' until the grass re-establishes.

Or do what I am going to do, and that is to dig up that bit of lawn and turn it into a flower bed that likes shade loving plants.

Moss will grow in lawns where it is either on compacted soil, and/or too moist, and/or in shade.

You need to cure whichever is the problem, and then do the stuff the other guys have provided links for - scarify and aerate the lawn in summer, probably drop new seed down, use a balanced fertiliser etc etc. But it all depends on where your moss is in the lawn. If it is in permanent shade, or damp you may have to live with it or ditch the lawn.

Cheers
Mark

markl_4

greengrass wrote:

Can anybody tell me if the lawn under my daughters trampoline will grow back. it as completely turned to soil, I have moved the trampoline now over winter to see if it helps.

Break up the compacted bare soil, to a fine tilth and reseed it with lawn seed now, and you might need to cover it with netting to keep off birds and cats. It is unlikely to come back by itself next year, though the grass will slowly fill in from the edges you will always have a bit of patch.

Alternatively, you might be able to cut in a new patch from another part of your lawn you don't mind cutting a bit out of. If you do this, carefully cut out the bare bit of lawn with a spade, place the cut out patch on the donor grass and cut around it to get the same shape. Then take the grassy bit over to the hole you cut from the bare ground and plonk it in and firm down. Then compost / throw the bare bit you cut out originally......

Next year, move the trampoline around a bit so it doesn't stand on the same bit of grass for more than a week and hopefully you won't get the problem again.

Good luck!
Cheers
Mark

markl_4

pioneer wrote:

Seems a good thread, I am suffering from a clover attack, there used to be good clover killers out there but my clover actually thrives on the new weak stuff and has taken over half the lawn and flower beds.

Are there any Percy's out there who can suggest a solution other than diggin the lawn up ?

Clover is a sign your soil is very nutritious or you've over fed it with nitrogen fertilisers. If the chemical weedkillers are not working, I'd suggest living with it or rip out the lawn and start again.

If you start again you will need to dig it out deep, and avoid a rotavator when prepping the soil, as it will just chop up the long roots and they will grow back.

If I remember rightly clover is a perennial weed, so you don't want it in your compost heap or it might come up all over the place when you use your compost in year's time.

Sorry it's a live with it or expensive solution

Cheers
Mark

jap200

pioneer wrote:

Seems a good thread, I am suffering from a clover attack, there used to be good clover killers out there but my clover actually thrives on the new weak stuff and has taken over half the lawn and flower beds.

Are there any Percy's out there who can suggest a solution other than diggin the lawn up ?

You are lucky - when we laid new turf in a previous garden, we transplanted clover into it on the basis that it stays green and lush even in drought. Our current garden already had loads of it - making us very happy. In fact my neighbour, who spends so much time and money trying to create a 'perfect' lawn, ended up with a brown dessert in last summer's heat. He happened to ask me over the fence how come our lawn looked so lush (maybe he was insinuating that we might have secretly been using a sprinkler!). When I said it was mostly clover, with some daisies, dandelions and moss he was very surprised. I would like to say that it has discouraged him from spreading loads of chemicals on his lawn - but it hasn't. Each to their own I suppose, but my lawn is greener in all respects!

Mrs_pbradley936

To keep a lawn looking good you have to maintain it, you cannot totally ignore it and then complain that it has weeds and moss. The easiest way on an established lawn is to use an all purpose feed/weed and moss killer every 3 months in spring summer and autumn. BUT YOU CANNOT USE THEM ON NEW LAWNS. You should also cut it frequently and not leave it to get too long and then scalp it.

If your lawn gets moss then it is because the moss likes the conditions and so you have to kill it off regularly. To do that you need a moss killer and you should scarify it. Some people are lucky and their lawn does not support moss growth usually because it is very sunny but there are other reasons. So do not say things like “Well so-and so has a good lawn and all he does is water it” because so-and-so may not have a female dog, children playing on it, and lots of other things. Also the individual grasses making up the lawn may not be suitable for the your use.

Mrs_pbradley936

pioneer wrote:

Seems a good thread, I am suffering from a clover attack, there used to be good clover killers out there but my clover actually thrives on the new weak stuff and has taken over half the lawn and flower beds.

Are there any Percy's out there who can suggest a solution other than diggin the lawn up ?

Thanks to a an EEC ruling a couple of years back certain types of weed killer i.e. Clovertox or Cloverkill can no longer be sold to the public. So you either have to use a regular store bought brand often, before it becomes a problem OR get some at a farmers shop and fill in a form.

Iowa_Lot

well if i decide to get rid of moss, should i leave it until spring or start now?

Mrs_pbradley936

I would leave it for a while - til early March. The moss will turn a rusty brown and you have to pull it up about two weeks after you apply the chemical. That will leave bare patches in the lawn but if you keep cutting it and feeding it it will grow in OK but you have to kill the moss at regular intervals or it will grow back.

Aries

How do I get rid of the Green growth on my Paths please?
I have Clay soil and my Paths seem to be permenantly damp.
I tried Jeyes Fluid, but I noticed the Worms were coming up and dying.
Is there anything harmless that I could use?
Thank you.