Scarifying - what order to do things in.

[wanabechippie]

Hi.

I've got a pretty crappy lawn at the mo. Fair bit of moss and thatch. I'm going to hire an electric lawn rake to shift the thatch. Just wandering if it will also remove the moss without the need for moss killer? It does say on the HSS site that it removes moss, just not sure if it means dead or alive .

Also, does the thatch need to be removed before the moss killer goes down (dosn't say on the box)?

Cheers!

 

[Srodders]

I've always put down a good lawn weed/mosskiller first, waited until all the moss and weeds are dead (couple of weeks usually, mowing lawn as usual when needed) and then scarified the lawn to get all the dead stuff and thatch out. Works well for me.

 

[DIYerHELP]

I would recommend purchasing an electric lawn rake if you have the storage space. They cost around £50 to £80 or cheaper second-hand on ebay. (I noticed the hire rate was £10.50 for the first day!). Best to rake the lawn every six cuts starting in the spring and ending in the autumn.

Good advice from Srodders, if you don't use a lawn weed/moss killer first you might spread the moss around with the rake.

 

[Patho]

if you look around you'll definately find a more reasonable hire rate than HSS as well

 

[blu3tang]

Just to add when your using the equipment go up and down, then left to right then diag. to get as much of the moss out.

For a garden 10m by 10m i got about 10 black bags of moss out of it.

Also i agree buy your own for £50-£80, i did , and use it after i cut the grass (on a very high setting to gather excess grass + do the wee pattern in the grass like a traditonal garden)

 

[alexp.1]

Worth mentioning that the moss will simply return if you do not change the condition of the lawn.

Try to improve the drainage of the lawn and fertilise the grass so it has a chance to out-compete the moss.

 

[wanabechippie]

Hey.

Thanks for all your help!

I put down the moss killer about a week ago. All turned black. Bought a cheap n cheerful scarifier from B&Q for £50. Then went nuts with it on the lawn this evening.

However: I don't appear to have any grass left! Pulled out 7 bin bags of moss from my 50sq/m lawn! Seem to just have the odd blade of grass left per few sq Inches!

Sooooooooooo, what next? I went all over the lawn with a fork, stabbing the soil every 6in or so (boooooaring!) to relieve compaction. The moss killer was a weed n feed jobbie so a fair bit of grass .... food.... stuff has gone in. It's all been watered several times in this crazy drought we've been having (5days without rain! ).

The main area of moss was right under the hedge which never seems to get any direct sunlight. There's no grass left there at all. Would shady lawn seed work ok there by itself or do i need to add anything else to help prevent perma-dampness? (the soil is mostly a clay/soil substance). I've heard that Lawn Sand can help with drainage and moss prevention? Would this help?

Cheers again!

 

[dreddypuss]

You'd be surprised how resilient grass is. It may look a bit bald at the moment but if you water it every couple of days it should come back to life and spread in about 2/3 weeeks.
If you are still left with bare patches after that, re-seed the area - rake first, lay some top soil down to even out any bumps or holes, rake again, scatter seed, rake again lightly and put a very fine layer of top soil over the seed. Water in with a very fine spray so as not to disturb the seed, and water again every 2 days or so dependant on weather.
The area under the hedge - basically same again, but use a more resilient lawn seed (with higher percentage of ryegrass).
Lawn sand is traditionally used as a top dressing after aeration. It's used to fill holes left by spiking or hollow tining (or forking) to keep passages open and to feed the grass and stimulate growth - and also to fill in and level small hollows in the lawn.

If you've very keen you can make your own:
6 parts medium fine sand
3 parts sieved soil (to prevent small stones going over lawn)
1 part peat
but it's probably easier just to buy some from Homebase/Focus.