Moss patch masquerading as a lawn.....

[sarahkeast]

Argh !

So I finally got around to building a kayak store today and cleared the lawn of all the other junque

Started to look at 'lawn' and realised it is nothing but moss, buttercups, moss, a little grass and lots more moss

Anyone got any suggestions ? We started to rake it out, but quickly realised we were gonna be there fore ever and still not sort it out. Looked at renting [£45] a powered scarifier or buying [£25, mechanical or £90, powered]

Has anyone used a mechanical one ? is it really hard work ? any other suggestions ? or should I just suck it up and rent one ? raking is simply not an option, dont have the strength or time....

Thanks

[JulieSherris]

Ooo!! We have a moss 'lawn' too! I'm probably not going to be much help, because our moss is mainly sphagnum & it's incredibly soft & springy, so we've left it well alone - plus the fact that if we start to shift it, we'll just end up with a huge dirt patch, I think!!

Up the back end by the hayshed, we have a different type of moss... but that's all been shovelled up by the ducks & is now a dirt patch - maybe the grass will start to grow there maybe!
What's worse is that we can't even pop grass seed down - the birds will just eat it

[Millymollymandy]

Yup me too, moss and weeds, but it is green! In summer it's just brown dirt and weeds as the moss dies away when it gets dry.

For god's sake don't bother to try a manual scarifier unless (1) you are super fit, or (2) you are a masochist, or (3) you have a lawn of 2 square feet.

Though to be honest I never tried it just on mossy stuff, it was more on grass thatch and weeds that I was trying to scarify and that is HARD. And not worth it!

[JillStephens7]

My mum and dad used to have an electric moss rake. It worked well getting rid of moss and was easy enough to use. Like a push along mower but a bit heavier and more grumbly.

I'm just wondering about removing the moss if you have loads of other weeds though, if you take the moss away, maybe the weeds will just have more room to grow unless you can get some grass going pretty quickly

Good luck

[Flo]

Use a dose of weed, feed and moss kill folks. It may cost you but it makes the moss easier to rake off and then kills the weeds. After that, go round stabbing the "lawn" with a fork to aerate it. Fill up holes with fine sand. Then reseed and don't cut till the grass is about four inches high. Then do a high cut, lower cut and never cut so short again as you have before.

That's the text book way to do it. If you can't stand the faff, pay a man. Or dig up the lawn entirely and plant vegetables.

[bonniethomas06]

I think Julie provided the perfect answer there...get (or borrow) yourselves a few chickens and erect a temporary chicken wire fence with some bamboo canes.

Give it less than a week and if my lot are anything to go by, every last scrap of moss will be up in no time!

[grahamhobbs]

Flo is absolutely right, just fork it when the ground is wet and not dried out and rock hard!

Adding sand is very important, otherwise the conditions will remain so the moss will come straight back.

[Kezz]

I also have a mossy lawn, but I'd rather know if there's a way to encourage the moss! Moss never needs mowing, I much prefer it to grass

[sarahkeast]

Ok, so I stumped up the cash and brought 1/2 an electric scarifier to share with a friend. Worked out a lot cheaper than renting one.

And, OMG I filled all 4 compost daleks with moss from a smallish lawn !!!! I know I have to empty/mix them with manure from local stables.

There is some grass left, plenty of buttercup too. I will weed and feed it when I get some. It was easy; really easy actually as the kids think it is great fun and are very gratified by the volumes they are generating

Thanks for the support and advice.

[Millymollymandy]

Hmmm might stump up for one myself...

Just a thought, can you leave some of the moss out in a pile somewhere for the birds to use for their nests? At least ours goes to some good use here along with hundreds of discarded downy duck feathers. Lucky baby birds.

[Millymollymandy]

Flo is absolutely right, just fork it when the ground is wet and not dried out and rock hard!

Adding sand is very important, otherwise the conditions will remain so the moss will come straight back.

Can I just disagree here for a moment Graham . The worst patch of moss in my garden is where the builders dumped a load of sand when they were renovating this house (pre us owning it) and all that grows there is moss in winter and a few hardy drought tolerant weeds in summer! So I think that moss will grow on anything, including pure sand, if it is moist.

[oldfella]

As a lot of us seem to have a problem with moss this year, I wonder if this is a problem this year, as it appears to me that I have, a real bad case, and am wondering if it has anything to do with winter just gone.

Having said that just been down to the veg patch and and found all my peppers and cues plus others killed off by the frost this morning,

[Flo]

Flo is absolutely right, just fork it when the ground is wet and not dried out and rock hard!

Adding sand is very important, otherwise the conditions will remain so the moss will come straight back.

Can I just disagree here for a moment Graham . The worst patch of moss in my garden is where the builders dumped a load of sand when they were renovating this house (pre us owning it) and all that grows there is moss in winter and a few hardy drought tolerant weeds in summer! So I think that moss will grow on anything, including pure sand, if it is moist.

Builders sand is so totally wrong sort of sand and you have found out why. You do need soil as well as sand. I didn't mean to say all sand, I just meant to say sand down the holes where you aerate. And you want sharp sand NOT builders sand as you have found out. Sorry to cause confusion.

[Flo]

And, OMG I filled all 4 compost daleks with moss from a smallish lawn !!!! I know I have to empty/mix them with manure from local stables.

I'm afraid that moss doesn't compost and will grow again if you put it in manure and spread it around. Bag it up and dispose of it but not into any garden recycling scheme.

There are certain things which you should not put on compost heaps at home:

Moss - it doesn't compost
Dandelion and Dock roots - you heap will never get a home heap hot enough to rot them
Mares Tail (Horse's Tail) - doesn't compost even in commercial hot processes
Bind weed and ground elder - don't compost even in commercial hot processes

I'm afraid that all of these are landfill. That's from bitter experience.

[Millymollymandy]

Flo is absolutely right, just fork it when the ground is wet and not dried out and rock hard!

Adding sand is very important, otherwise the conditions will remain so the moss will come straight back.

Can I just disagree here for a moment Graham . The worst patch of moss in my garden is where the builders dumped a load of sand when they were renovating this house (pre us owning it) and all that grows there is moss in winter and a few hardy drought tolerant weeds in summer! So I think that moss will grow on anything, including pure sand, if it is moist.

Builders sand is so totally wrong sort of sand and you have found out why. You do need soil as well as sand. I didn't mean to say all sand, I just meant to say sand down the holes where you aerate. And you want sharp sand NOT builders sand as you have found out. Sorry to cause confusion.

I think this was sharp sand. I'm not sure of the difference but I thought that builders sand was more moist and yellow and sharp sand is the kind you find on lovely white sandy beaches. That's the kind I have that's been spread all over this area.

My soil never needs the addition of any kind of sand as it is so porous anyway.