Lawn raker or scarifier, should I get one? + ground elder

Lady_K

There are quite a few trees on my garden and innevitably lots and lots of moss, carpets of it. Is it worth getting a scarifier or lawn raker? Someone does the gardening for me but isnt a gardener by trade so doesnt really know anything about it other than cutting it.

What is the best thing to get for this as it will be a continual maintenance thing and is it best to kill the moss first and if so what with and when? Its only ever been hand raked up to now but it never gets it all out and its very hard work due to the amount of it.

The whole area is presently being killed yet again with roundup because of the nightmare ground elder coming from next door. It was killed 6 times last year and the year before that and it keeps on coming back and the moss is even worse because roundup doesnt kill it and it takes over the empty killed areas.

I cannot leave it another year without any grass because I know the ground elder will still come back anyway and the moss takes over the area even more so the only thing to do will be to try and spot kill any new ground elder growth after grass seeding and then try to keep the grass as strong as possible including keeping the moss down.

The ground elder has been there for at least 23 years but I didnt know what it was until a couple of years ago, so its taken over the garden despite mowing. The repeated roundup killed it all innitially but it grew back although weakened in the mass of it but then it still comes back strong all over the next year so it would be no time before it was as bad as before.

The plan is, once the ground elder is completely killed again and the moss is left over to then lawn rake or scarify (which one) to get the moss out and loosen the top of soil then re-seed and once grass is grown continue maintenance of lawn raking or scarifying for the moss and spot killing any ground elder but by the way things are going it wil be a lot of spot killing.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

emiff6

Can't help you with the ground elder except to say pick or pull off every leaf you see as soon as it pops up its head.

For the moss, if it is very thick, which I guess it is, you need a three pronged attack!

Treat it with a ferrous sulphate solution to kill a large part of it (you won't kill it all, I think). I use organic seaweed solution with added iron, that you dilute and apply with a watering can, because the iron does for the moss and the seaweed feeds the grass at the same time.

Then about a week later, use a lawn raker and rake up as much as you can. The iron sulphate will have killed a lot which means there will be less bulk to rake up.

Then after another week, treat again with the seaweed/iron solution to catch the remaining bits.

Have you thought about hiring an electric or petrol lawn raker, rather than buying one? You really only need it once in Spring and maybe once in Autumn, so it may work out cheaper to hire one for the day.

Lady_K

Thanks I will have to get some of the organic seaweed iron solution, is the ferrous sulphate a separate thing that you mix with the organic seaweed solution or is it all the same thing? What brand is it I should get?

I hadnt thought of hiring a raker as I have seen a bosch one for £110 http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/7304668.htm although I have just found it on Amazon for £90 I have argos vouchers.

so it wouldnt take long to pay for itself and because its all under trees and the ground elder too I think it will need treating quite regular

Theres a bigger bosch one http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bosch-AVR-1100-Verticutter-Lawnraker/dp/B0030BERK0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1341071739&sr=8-2
which is probably better but as I have vouchers for argos I would have to pay cash, would it be worth it?

Are any of the above 3 prong ones?

emiff6

ferrous sulphate is the same thing as iron sulphate, some people call it one and some the other. I can't remember the make of the seaweed solution, but its in a green plastic bottle and says "organic liquid seaweed with added iron" or something similar on the front. (Sorry, can't be ar**d to go down to the shed to see, but you can't mistake the bottle. Any GC will have it, I think the DIY places will too.

Lady_K

So that organic seaweed solution with iron will kill the moss then on its own? or do I have to get a ferrous sulphate thing to kill that first?

Sorry just a bit confused