Lawn moss

[Steve]

Hi chaps. I've been in the garden today doing some tidying, unnetting the pond etc. I noticed the moss in my lawn has got very bad over the winter. There were patches last year but nothing as bad is it is now. Pretty much the whole lawn is now infested.

Worth pointing out that for the last couple of years I've struggled to get the grass to grow properly and it only grew in patches, the rest seemed dormant.

The lawn doesn't get any sun at all through winter. Perhaps this is the cause? Persistent damp and lack of sun? Only today I've noticed the far end of the lawn getting a bit of sun.

I've given it a rake today but I got fed up half way across, as to be honest I'm fighting a losing battle.

I've got an idea though. My neighbour has a scarifier I can borrow. Attack the lawn a couple of times with that to remove the moss
(which will leave it bare), then reseed the lawn with some hard wearing heavy duty seed. I used some excellent seed at my old house when the turf I laid died in a dark corner. The seed grew within a week and after 3 weeks was lush and green.

Does this plan sound OK? Or would I be better with a chemical treatment of some sort? Or just strip the grass completely? I've got a deadline of July to get the lawn looking great as the wife's family (30 of them) are descending on us for her mums 60th birthday party.

 

[Wayners]

Had a chat to green thumb grass man.
He said you need to use grass fertilizer twice a year..
Grass should be cut once a fortnight on a long setting. Moss grows in short grass.
Water grass 3 times a day in summer to keep it green and healthy.

Most people mow twice a week on a short setting. Most people never water or add fertiliser

 

[Deluks]

Kill the moss before scarification otherwise you'll just spread it about. Get some lawn sand from the garden centre.
Also spike your lawn, don't use one of those silly little rolling things, go over it with a fork, sink it in deep all over.

 

[endecotp]

The lawn doesn't get any sun at all through winter. Perhaps this is the cause?

Yes, the grass will be much weaker.

In the longer term, think about alternatives. By which I don’t mean “tarmac everything”, I mean more plants. Shade-tolerant ones

Kill the moss before scarification otherwise you'll just spread it about.

Yes, this. You can buy ferrous sulphate reasonably cheaply; put it on with a watering can. Wait a while, then rake or scarify, then fertilise. Probably best with a hand rake if the grass is that bad.

You’ll need to check when the best time of year to do this is.

 

[Koolpc]

Some good points above. They will see to it that you do a sterling job to the moss.

 

[Old Salt]

Watch youtube. Daniel Hibbert lawn expert and lawn right lawn care, loads of advice on treatments, scarifying and over seeding. These 2 guys do it for a living and take you through every step, what products to use and when to use them. Bit early yet for the temperatures we are having. When you get enough of these 2 watch yardbro from the good old USA, works hard and is down to earth. Gives back to his neighbourhood if you can stand the “how you doing”.