When and how to clear garden moss.

Boohoo

Hi.

I have a garden that is about 400 s/mtr and it get a lot of moss on it.
Last year I gave it a proper raking and it took me over 30 hours to do and I filled 30 large bin bags and filled the garden waste bin 6 times. After that I used evergreen 4 In 1 and it was ok.
This year it's started to look bad so I bought a electric scarifier to do the job.
What I need is help with what to do 1st. Do I scarify 1st and then put the 4 in 1 later or the other way round. Also when is the best time to scarify and to let you know I have not cut the lawn yet.
Thank you for any advice you may have.

TonyMMM

I would use the 4 in 1 ... leave a couple of weeks until the moss has gone black and then use the electric scarifier to rake it out.

But - moss is a symptom of an underlying problem, which is probably poor drainage, lack of sunlight or both. If you deal with that, you won't need to keep treating the moss.

Arthog

Moss is a sign that the lawn is a bit too damp. Rake out the moss, then spike the lawn all over - can be done with a garden fork. Use the moss in hanging baskets.
Many people appreciate moss in the lawn as it remains green when the rest of the lawn is dried up in hot weather.

Boohoo

The garden is west facing and on the south side the is a 5ft fence that goes for about 15mtr and at the back there are big trees and in the winter no sun gets on the grass.
It only gets the moss from late autumn to now as the sun never gets on the grass as its shady all the time. I have in the past forked the area to get better drainage but over the winter it comes back.
The other problem I have had in the last 2 winters is 3/4 squirrels digging loads of holes in the lawn and we now have 4/5 foxes that also dig holes and the seem to love the moss as I think its easy to get up and get to the earth.
Thanks for the ideas.

Boohoo

Just to update you all.
I put down the weed and feed and then after 2 weeks done the scarifying and took out 18 large black bin liners full and the lawn looks threadbare. I made up an aerator with some 3 inch nails banged into a bit of wood and seems easier than using a garden fork. I only have about 340 sqm's to go.

littlerock

we have similar problem and are debating using an organic moss killer called No Bacter

immoral_angeluk

Get some chickens. They'll remove the moss in no time, along with everything else.