Greenkeeper’s Secrets: The Best Way to Kill Lawn Moss

It’s not unheard of for moss to develop on your lawn over the spring and autumn. In fact, most gardeners will have trouble with moss at some point or another; even more so at this time of year.

Moss is the name for a collection of primitive non-flowering plants which spread very quickly over undisturbed soil. Despite there being many different types of moss, they can be placed into three different categories:

• Upright moss – A larger, more tufted type
• Cushion moss – Tiny clusters of growth all together
• Trailing moss – Has a feathery appearance

Identifying Moss

Moss will usually appear as coarse, loose green or yellow tufts between the grass. However it can also form into densely matted tufts or in the shape of small forests of miniature Christmas trees. It provides the grass with a very uneven colour and surface. Often loose moss will make the ground feel very spongy to walk on.

When it comes to identifying moss, try not to get it confused with algae; however algae has a very distinctive look about it. It’s usually black with a slight resemblance of frog-spawn.

Why is Moss Bad?

Once you have moss, it can cause many further problems for your lawn. It actively competes against grass for growing space and depending on conditions it may well win. When it comes to summer and the moss begins to die off it leaves behind unsightly bald patches throughout your lawn, and if that isn’t bad enough, it will almost certainly return again in the wetter autumn to late spring.

Why Did it Appear?

Moss can be a temporary problem after droughts or waterlogging, or it could be a more persistent problem with underlying conditions. On new lawns it may be due to poor site preparation, or on more established lawns it could be down to poor vigour, acidic soil conditions, a lack of feed, insufficient aeration, poor drainage or close mowing.

• Compacted soil – When the ground is too hard, grass has difficulty growing and spreading which allows the moss to take over. Aeration helps to avoid this by reducing the compacted soil.
• Too much thatch – Thatch is a layer of plant material that lays below the visible grass and stores a lot of moisture. When the thatch grows too thick it encourages the growth of moss. Lawn scarification helps to get rid of any thatch and therefore helps against the arrival of moss.
• Poor drainage – When a lawn is poorly drained moss grows very easily. Moss itself is 90% water therefore it likes to grow in moist conditions. Again, aerating regularly will help to avoid this by punching holes throughout the soil.
• Short grass – Grass needs to photosynthesise in order to flourish and grow correctly. When it is cut too short it allows the moss to overtake. Cut your lawn to a height which is suitable for your grass to avoid damaging the roots.
• Too much shade – If there is a lot of shade covering your lawn, the best thing to do is to trim your bushes and trees. Moss dislikes heat and sunlight, and will thrive in all day shade.
• Poorly Fed – If a lawn is unhealthy it will not be able to compete against moss. Feeding the lawn with good fertilizers as needed allows the grass to compete better against the moss.

Getting Rid of Moss

In order to thoroughly rid your lawn of moss, the best thing to do is to follow a good lawn care plan – and stick to it!

Your 6 Point Lawn Care Plan

1. Mow Your Lawn 
Firstly, check the cutting heights of your mower. It is very important that you never scalp your lawn too short – this weakens the grass and leaves the soil open to moss invasion. When moss is a problem, leave the grass so that it’s about 2.5cm/1″ long at all times. In autumn and winter leave the grass to grow even longer. Mowing regularly is great for your lawn as it encourages the spread of grass plants. Once you’ve mown your lawn, wait about three days before the next step. If your lawnmower doesn’t have suitable cutting heights, click here to browse our selection of mowers with a variety of different cutting heights.

2. Chemical Treatment
Micronised Lawn Sand Moss Control and Fertilizer is a fantastic product to use on turf areas. It promotes turf growth to rapidly infill any balding areas of grass where the moss has taken its toll. The ferrous sulphate in the Micronised Lawn Sand works to strengthen the turf against any possible disease. It is the ideal product to use on sports turf  such as bowling greens, cricket outlets, golf courses, and in amenity turf areas. We’re giving a 20kg bag of Micronised Lawn Sand Moss Control and Fertilizer for free when you buy a Einhell GC-SC 2240P Petrol Scarifier.

3. Scarify Your Lawn 
Once you’ve used your chemical treatment, preferably Micronised Lawn Sand Moss Control and Fertilizer, and waited a couple of weeks you are then able to remove any of the dead moss and reduce the thatch by scarifying your lawn.
It’s important to never leave the dead moss on your lawn, as this will increase the thatch problem and only create more moss growth. A great petrol scarifier to use is the Cobra S40C 2-in-1 Petrol Lawn Scarifier & Aerator. The interchangeable system on the Cobra S40C gives you the choice of either inserting the bladed cassette for aerating or the sprung claw for scarifying. The spring tine cassette is fitted with 16 tines with angled tips for more effective raking of thatch and dead grass. The cassette has 17 rigid steel blades that will remove moss, thatch and flat-growing weeds.. The Cobra S40C 2-in-1 Petrol Lawn Scarifier & Aerator is the perfect machine to work as part of your 6 point lawn care plan to rid your lawn of moss. It comes with a free engine care kit (4-stroke oil, fuel stabiliser & a 5 litre fuel can). We are also offering a complete moss killing solution with our scarifier/spreader/lawn sand bundle. Save £££’s and have a look.

4. Aerate Your Lawn
Once you’ve scarified your lawn, it’s important to then aerate it. This loosens the underlying soil compaction by punching holes throughout it. Aerating your lawn allows the stale carbon dioxide air to release from the soil, whilst fresh oxygen-rich air will spread into it. This action will also stimulate and encourage root growth. We have a selection of aerators available which would be ideal such as the Agri-Fab 45-0365 walk behind aerator for smaller lawns at only £69.99. See our full range of aerators.

5. Over Seed
If you haven’t used the Micronised Lawn Sand Moss Control and Fertilizer for your chemical treatment stage, then it is very likely that you will need to apply grass seed to help fill the bare patches that have been left. If you did use the Micronised Lawn Sand Moss Control and Fertilizer, then this itself will encourage further grass growth due to the dual-action fertilizer which provides rapid green growth.

6. Water
Water your lawn to encourage the seeds to grow and the fertilizer to work its magic. Watering your lawn will help it to recover from the moss surgery that’s been performed.

A Word of Warning

Many gardening superstores like to promote moss killer as a way to kill lawn moss, although it seems easier to apply moss  killer over your lawn and eliminate moss for a short while, without fail, it will always return. This is of course, unless the underlying problems have been addressed using the 6 point lawn care plan above. This plan can be time-consuming, but like most things in life that take time rewards can be hugely satisfying, especially when you have a beautiful lawn that you can be truly proud of.

If you’re uncertain about anything, or would like further details, then call our highly experienced sales team now on 01263 820202 for helpful, friendly advice.