What happens after moss removal on lawn

jonny2510

Our lawn has a lot of moss on it, in various patches all over.

I'm wondering what will happen if I use a grass feed / weed killer / moss killer combo on it (and am also considering using GreenThumb to do the same).

Having never done treated the lawn before, I'm not sure what to expect after the moss has been killed and raked out. Will I be left with large patches of soil, that will need grass seed planting, or will the grass miraculously spread to cover it?

Also how long of a process is it all?

Ectophile

In my experience, if there is grass mixed with the moss, it should spread out to fill the gaps. Failing that, you can always seed it.

However, unless you change anything, the moss will gradually reappear over the following year, so you'll need to keep applying the mosskiller at whatever intervals the manufacturer recommends.

MoneyMate

jonny2510 wrote: »

Our lawn has a lot of moss on it, in various patches all over.

I'm wondering what will happen if I use a grass feed / weed killer / moss killer combo on it (and am also considering using GreenThumb to do the same).

Having never done treated the lawn before, I'm not sure what to expect after the moss has been killed and raked out. Will I be left with large patches of soil, that will need grass seed planting, or will the grass miraculously spread to cover it?

Also how long of a process is it all?

I was thinking the same, just used 4 in 1, the grass looks a bit brown after 5 days now hope the grass will regrow now the Moss has gone.:beer:

Leif

I used weed and feed, and the spreader placed too much in some areas which killed the grass. There was a strong seaside smell for weeks, which is from iron sulphate to kill moss, and possibly a seaweed extract too. For the rest of the year I was mowing the lawn, the feed made it grow too much. Now I have decided to apply moss killer (iron sulphate) and a weed killer separately, and spread some compost or blood, fish and bone to feed the grass, which are both slower release.

Anyway, when I tried weed and feed, the moss was back the next year, just as bad, and the grass was still thin. Mind you, last year would have got admiring looks from Noah, so maybe it was not typical, and weed and feed would normally work better.

tired_dad

IMHO, both moss and grass coexist. Trying to get rid of the moss will be futile and expensive.

While the commercially sold feeds contain moss killer, I think their main use is as a feed. Yes they will kill some moss but only a percentage.

All you can do is develop an environment that favours the grass over moss. So that involves aerating, sorting out drainage issues and not mowing the lawn too short.

lostinrates

Sigh...I love mossy lawns, and actually want to take up my grass in one area and grow a moss lawn.....but I think it might be too dry in summer and even perhaps a little too sunny....I am trying to read how much sun some mosses will tolerate.

Leif

lostinrates wrote: »

Sigh...I love mossy lawns, and actually want to take up my grass in one area and grow a moss lawn.....but I think it might be too dry in summer and even perhaps a little too sunny....I am trying to read how much sun some mosses will tolerate.

We should swap lawns. The middle of my lawn was 90% moss, with some grass and weeds, until I killed it, and it received full sun throughout the day. The soil is compacted clay with lots of flints, some over 30cm across. The area with most moss gets very sodden when it rains, not puddles of water, but squelchy. The sun is clearly not an issue, but you need poor drainage.

lostinrates

Leif wrote: »

We should swap lawns. The middle of my lawn was 90% moss, with some grass and weeds, until I killed it, and it received full sun throughout the day. The soil is compacted clay with lots of flints, some over 30cm across. The area with most moss gets very sodden when it rains, not puddles of water, but squelchy. The sun is clearly not an issue, but you need poor drainage.

You are giving me hope......we are on clay and its pretty well compacted.....:D. Only thing is it is never gets squelchy.....

Ectophile

I eventually gave up on my front lawn, as it's particularly soggy clay.

I now just let the wild flowers (aka weeds) grow all spring and summer, and mow it all in the autumn. The [STRIKE]weeds[/STRIKE] wild flowers seem to out-compete the moss, and it's a lot less effort to look after.

I'm still trying to get the back lawn right, though.

Leif

Ectophile wrote: »

I eventually gave up on my front lawn, as it's particularly soggy clay.

I now just let the wild flowers (aka weeds) grow all spring and summer, and mow it all in the autumn. The [STRIKE]weeds[/STRIKE] wild flowers seem to out-compete the moss, and it's a lot less effort to look after.

I'm still trying to get the back lawn right, though.

What wild flowers are they? The problem with ones like Creeping Buttercup is that they get everywhere and take over. They are green thugs.

mansars

What I did on my front, a garden thick with moss, was to spread lawn sand over it a few weeks ago, then scarify it thouroughly (to lift the moss), then as the ground was very compact and amp, I hollow tined and forked it. This was followed by a light dressing of lawn dressing.

I will be seeding it this weekend....so fingers crossed.

Yiou may have got out of this that I removed the moss, tried to fix the under lying problem and then sowed a new lawn.

Hope thishelps