Natural ways to deal with weeds and moss

twopenny

Well it's a long shot but if you don't ask you don't get.

So my lawn, visible all the time I'm in my living room, is growing swathes of moss and worse, dense thatches of Self Heal and rampant dandelion

I can't use chemicals because I now have a hedgehog and a family of Blackbirds who visit year round. I've tried weeding by hand and all I got was blisters. I've spiked the mossy area, raked and added sand.

Any other ideas to reduce the weeds? I'm not after a faultless green sward, just more grass than weed because it looks grim. Insects prefer the lavender or ivy flowers so I'm not depriving the wildlife.

I could use something like an individual treatment, do a small patch at a time and cover it with netting but can't find anything that does this any more.

Anyone tried lemon juice or vinegar?

Apodemus

You don't want to use acids (like lemon juice or vinegar) on the lawn, unless you plan on re-seeding.  It would kill the grass along with any weeds. 

Personally, I would wait for summer then use a selective weedkiller, lots of raking and  try to rise above the temptation to cut it very short (none of which I ever manage to do, so my lawn looks like yours! ).  If you can find something with Sodium Dichlorophen as the active ingredient, you might be able to control the moss - while it has been removed from household use as a lawn treatment, you might still find formulations designed for other uses.  But I like to see the 20 or so species of fungi I have in the garden, so I don't use any moss killers. 

Apart from that, there is probably not much you can do at this time of year apart from waiting for it to grow!  

Justagardener

Have a look at no rake moss removers they are organic and actually do a good job. They also fertilise the lawn organically, the thicker the lawn the less chance there will be of weeds growing. Dabbing weeds with a selective weedkiller in the spring, might not be organic but you can be fairly accurate. 

twopenny

Thanks for the ideas. Looks like I'll have to make a wire cage and do a small area at a time just to be sure I don't affect the wildlife.

I think the grass was possibily treated as the house was empty for many years and a maintenance man employed. The grass was just grass and ants, a bit thin and it didn't need mowing for the first year for which I was grateful as there was a whole garden to make as well as the house.

Then the second year it was thick with dandelions & daisies follwed rapidly by all the other stuff and hand weeding was a loosing battle even for a small area. Raised the mower last year which seemed to encourage them.

Yes, trying to thicken the grass is what I need to do but it's a loosing battle.

Last place huge lawns and the clover was welcome and green. Used to be a joke that it stayed green where the grass withered in summer so I'm tollerant but what I have now looks dreadful.

Davesnave

Where is the evidence selective weedkillers, used selectively, harm wildlife?

I've used selectives on my fields for the past 10 years, only ever treating the weeds I didn't want, like thistle, dock and ragwort. That means only a tiny fraction of the field is treated in any year, and as the weeds become fewer, less chemical is needed.

We have more wild flowers in the fields now than 10 years ago, and careful use of grazing means greater diversity among the grasses too. Beside the field in our garden we caught, weighed and marked 11 hedgehogs this autumn, so they seem to be thriving, as do the blackbirds, thrushes etc. The only animal that seems to have suffered is the dock beetle, which was pretty, but on balance I'd rather have grasses than docks.

twopenny

I just worry Davesnave. I can watch from my setee, the family of blackbirds frantically collecting worms from my lawn and I treasure my hedgehog. Both are forraging in the lawn so in close contact with it.

I grow nettles for butterflies & plant food and docks for the stings...so I'll have your beetles, not that I've ever seen one.

I once had connections with a farm that did direct research on types of grazing. They found that the cattle grazing on natural grasses and wildflowers were getting natural immunities and needed less vetenary attention (antibiotics etc) and were altogether healthier and therefore happier as I'm sure you know . Not that it wa taken onboard by the authorities much.

Apodemus

Yes, its always tricky finding the right balance.  I've come late to the use of selective weedkillers in the garden, but have been driven to it by the amount of seed spread I was getting from the part of the garden that is managed for wildflowers.  I reckon the good done by the natural part of the garden far outweighs any risk from limited chemical use on the more intensively managed areas.  I've not seen a hedgehog in years (either in the garden or flat on the road), but their demise seems to have coincided with a huge growth in badger and pine marten numbers, rather than changes in herbicide use.  My main problem is that the lawn doesn't see direct sunlight from September to March, so I get a huge amount of moss growth each year.

Davesnave

The key to diversity of grasses here seems to be regular haymaking and close grazing by sheep in late winter. When we took over, it was equestrian and coarse grasses dominated. A change in management reduced the weed burden and meant the smaller, finer grasses could also get away in spring before being overwhelmed by their rough cousins. I was sceptical at first because the change was slow, but sure enough, the lumpy, tussocky stuff was gradually replaced  without killing everything off and re-seeding. I also see more wildflowers in there now, before the hay's made in July.

Jjah

Well done on not using weedkillers!

I only keep my front lawn weed free but haven't used any chemicals in the garden for 20 years.

I simply use a repurposed kitchen butter knife to cut the root stem immediately under the lawn and dispose of the upper leaves.

This weakens the weeds.

The moss is easily sorted by using a lawn rake after I cut the lawn (which can remove a surprising amount of moss) and then I periodically scatter grass seeds which helps it to become denser.

Don't forget that urine makes a fantastic fertiliser for grass.  Just dilute the fresh stuff before application.

(Weeds dominate more easily in poor soil.)

Pee-riodically applying this liquid gold is an easy way to wee-d

twopenny

It's mild enough here that I can start this soon so thanks for the advice.

Seems we have a family of hedgehogs as I've seen the 'leavings' in abundance on a grassed entrance near me but I have just the one. Had to take a bit of draught excluder from the garden gate to be sure it could get at my slugs and snails. It's doing a wonderful job.

The urine gives a new meaning to 'if it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown flush it down' as the Aussies say. It was in the old lawn sand which was cheap as chips but it's been 'enhanced' for more money these days and not so good.

Lucky enough that there is a swathe of wild flowers and grasses in the area. The council agreed not to cut verges on Exmoor until the wildflowers had seeded. Means slower driving but it's a wonderful drive. Sadly the summer meadows with their wonderful grasses, some 4ft high, have been built on thanks to the government allowing building on green land.

25_Years_On

Davesnave said:

The key to diversity of grasses here seems to be regular haymaking and close grazing by sheep in late winter. When we took over, it was equestrian and coarse grasses dominated. A change in management reduced the weed burden and meant the smaller, finer grasses could also get away in spring before being overwhelmed by their rough cousins. I was sceptical at first because the change was slow, but sure enough, the lumpy, tussocky stuff was gradually replaced  without killing everything off and re-seeding. I also see more wildflowers in there now, before the hay's made in July.

Flowery hay meadows are all well and good but tussocky rough grassland is also an important component. This might not have the diversity of plants but the diversity of sward structure is important for many invertebrates.