Killing moss in the grass

magn8p

I am novice when it comes to gardening. Recently purchased a house with a good lawn but I see a lot of moss patches as shown in the attached picture.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByzZtpskPzlFbzNPaWZTUUlDZndjV21TRzVRb09HWE8zN0Rv/view?usp=sharing

I used something like the below but it didn't really help in the previous house - perhaps I got the spreading wrong.

http://amzn.to/2nvfiQP

Please can you suggest an effective way dealing with the moss and protect the lawn. Also, how often should I water the lawn in summer?

Mags.

elaineruk

Have you tried manually removing it with a rake?

magn8p

elaineruk wrote: »

Have you tried manually removing it with a rake?

Sorry, whats a rake? Also, if I remove it with my hand, it leaves a patch behind which looks ugly - how can I overcome this?

Ebe_Scrooge

You can buy moss killer at any garden centre or DIY shed. Some useful advice here : http://www.lawnsmith.co.uk/topic/moss-control-removal/moss-removal


The basic advice for lawn care is regular cutting during spring/summer, a scarify and feed in autumn, maybe aeration if the soil is compacted.


That's just the very basic stuff - there are entire books devoted to lawn care. And it depends what you want - a bowling green, or just something half decent for the kids to play on ? But there's loads of advice on that site I linked to.


Oh, and you'll probably never need to water an established lawn - unless it's the bowling green look you're after. A bog-standard "family" lawn will tolerate some pretty rubbish conditions. Even if we do get a prolonged dry spell, you'll be amazed at how quickly the grass recovers the first time it rains. In fact, damp conditions will tend to encourage moss. So really I'd be surprised if you ever need to water it - maybe give it a good soaking once a week if we ever do get a very hot dry summer, but with the weather we tend to get you're unlikely to need to.


A rake is one of these : http://www.homebase.co.uk/en/homebaseuk/qualcast-lawn-rake-937281


You will be left with bare patches if you remove a lot of moss. If it bothers you, just reseed the area, but the grass will re-establish itself pretty quickly anyway.

JP08

The moss killer will look ugly too - it'll turn the moss black, and probably (in my experience anyhow) quite a bit of the grass too. And you'll still have to rake the dead moss out.

Raking a lawn by hand is hard work. So much so that last year I vowed never to do it again and invested in a powered lawn raker. It took a lot of the moss away in about 1/10th the time it took me to hand rake - but has left quite a sparse lawn. I've mixed up the grass seed with a hefty quantity of horticultural sand and given the whole thing a good covering. Hopefully the sand will deter the moss a little and the seed with thicken up the lawn.

Personally I've taken to avoiding weedkilling chemicals where possible - the image of birdies I like to see on the lawn poking grubs picked out of the blackened dead moss down their nestlings necks didn't sit that well with me.

glasgowdan

That evergreen 4 in 1 is a good product that should work well, IF you apply it properly. If you are not sure, or don't want to spend a few quid on a spreader, then call a local gardener in to do it for you.

LessImpecunious

I like moss in the lawn - seems to help slow down grass growth - hence less mowing! :-)

Justagardener

Have a look at Mo Bacter its an organic lawn fertiliser and moss muncher that contains a friendly bacteria already found in soil which consumes thatch and dead moss turning it back into fertiliser which feeds your lawn. I trialled some last year and it did what it said surprisingly, so no raking and fertilised the lawn . It is expensive though but if you dont want to rake/scarify then this is for you.
Have a look here on amazon http://amzn.to/2nIyNlu

ERICS_MUM

I'm a good gardener (and modest with it !) but I've never developed the art of keeping a good lawn !

Mine is bad mainly because it sits on about 2 inches of soul and underneath that is solid clay mixed with builders rubble (1960's but half bricks surface in the flower beds every year !).

I leave the moss because from a distance it just looks green. In view of what's underneath I don't think anything I do to the grass and moss will be long-lasting. I just give it a quick acting feed early and mid summer to keep it green.

JustChillinJilly

I struggled with moss in my lawn raking, reseeding every year as it just comes back. I have now stopped stressing over it and appreciate it for what it is, green with no maintenance. After all in Japan it is seen as a thing of beauty and encouraged.

seanoctagan

what type of soil is your lawn sitting on?