Treatment of Moss in Lawns - Lawn Moss Killer - How to prevent Moss in your Grass

If you really want to eradicate moss from your lawn, then you have to find out the actual problem that is causing it, rather than just treating it. The reasons are various, but not too difficult to isolate.

They can be one or several of the causes outlined below

The latter is also available as a ready to use 'Moss Gun' for small patches. Neither do anything by way of treating the basic problem of moss in lawns. They simply are simply Lawn Moss Treatments - killing the moss which is there. It will return. You can also use lawn sand.

Main Causes of Moss Growth

Moss in Lawns is probably one of the least understood of all grass lawn problems. Treating or killing the moss is not the answer. Moss is a sign that something is basically wrong with your lawn. Too often, gardeners attempt to kill moss in lawns without tackling the problem that actually causes it. They are helped to this decision by the huge range of 'moss killers' and Lawn Moss Treatment available at local garden centres.

There are two basic lawn moss killers for lawns that are available - Ferrous Sulphate and Dichlorophen. One or the other is usually incorporated into typical lawns Feed and Lawn Moss killer combinations.

The causes of moss growth can be one of the following or a combination of.

Waterlogging Problem - in winter or summer.
Poor Lawn Feeding regime - usually denoted by light green grass.
Carry out a test for Acid soil.
Shaded Lawns - overhanging trees or large shrubs.
Mowing lawns too close (too short) - a common cause, for it weakens the grass - allowing moss to take hold
Drought - if severe enough to harm or kill the grass. Not to be confused with a bit of summer-browning
Sandy free-draining soils. This can weaken the grass and allow moss to take over. Some mosses are quite happy in these conditions.
Compaction of your Lawn - continued use by children and pets with no remedial attention by way of Lawn Aeration in the Autumn.

It may not be apparent which one causes moss growth, but if you do have an idea, autumn is the right time to tackle these issues.

Maxicrop Moss Killer

Or you can opt for a quick fix, Moss Killer, it is cheap and easy enough to apply. You can purchase some moss killer treatment, it will kill your moss for 12 months, unfortunately it will probably return.

There are a lot of Moss Killers on the market, which ever one you choose, it must contain Ferrous Sulphate and / or Dichlorophen, which they all probably do.

For this exercise I use a sole purpose moss killer, not the 3 in 1 or 4 in 1's, as this is a step of a process to a better lawn.

How To Kill Moss growing in your Lawn.

Firstly, prepare your lawn, rake it through, removing all of the surface leaves and debris.
Mow your lawn to a short cut, exposing the lawn moss.
Spread your moss pellets thoroughly or by using a spreader. (If you use a soluable moss killer, follow the strengths and directions on the bottle
Finally, Water thoroughly

There are a few

Organic Methods to Kill Moss

, non of them have I tried personally, but here is the likely Organic recipes.

Ingredients - One Litre of household Vinegar, 125 ml of household Salt, 50 ml of Washing up Liquid

Tools - Spear & Jackson Pump Action Pressure Sprayer, 5 L (or similar), Saucepan

Put 125 ml of household salt into a saucepan, add 125 ml of water, gently heat on the cooker until the salt has dissolved into a soluble liquid
Remove from the heat and rest until cool
Add one litre of household vinegar and 50 ml of washing up liquid, stir to mix.
Add the solution to a spray bottle and pressurise
Spray the moss infected area generously (Do not spray on a windy day)

Within 2 weeks the moss should turn yellow and die.

After applYing a solution / course of moss killer, please leave your grass alone for 2 weeks to allow it to work through your lawn system.

A close look at the enlarged image will see that the scarcity of grass in this lawn is allowing the moss to take over.

Simply using Lawn Moss Killer, will only kill off the current growth. You should aim at dealing with the basic problem.

Maxicrop Moss Killer

Generally, lawns that are well maintained - which includes being well fed, cut properly, aerated and not allowed to develop thatch - then the problems which result in moss will not occur in the first place. Moss can rarely compete with strong growing grass in lawns. It is allowed to develop and take a hold when the grass growth is weak. Get the grass growing properly and the likelihood is that your lawn will not suffer from moss problems.

Treating small areas of lawn moss can be carried out with a lawn moss treatment or lawn moss killer containing Dichlorophen. After a couple of weeks, you can rake out the dead moss and re-seed. If you need to use a feed for the area, it is better to feed the whole lawn in order to avoid patchiness!

Assuming that you have inherited a lawn with a moss problem, you should carry out the following maintenance regime - rather than simply treating the moss which is there. (The details of all operations are to be found elsewhere in this section. Quick fixes just do not work, other than to kill the moss which is present.) Unless you tackle the underlying problem, the moss will return!

Seasonal Care and Lawn Moss Treatment

Spring Lawn Moss Treatment

In Spring, apply a Ferrous Sulphate based moss-killer to the whole affected area. Or you can use Lawn Sand to kill moss.

How to use Westland Lawn Sand to Kill Moss

This Product contains Ferrous Sulphate, it is just not Sand.

Westland Lawn Sand, 16 kg

For a moss-free lawns, Westland Lawn Sand is ideal. It blackens moss and greens the lawn. It also helps improve drainage for lawns growing on heavy soils.

Westland Lawn Sand is used to control moss in established lawns, do not use on newly sown lawns or newly laid turf until established for at least twelve months. Apply when moss is actively growing. Do not apply during drought or freezing conditions or when rain is falling or imminent. This product is called sand, it is actually a sand based mixture which contains chemicals, therefor avoid drifting of granules or dust onto plants, patios or ponds by not applying in windy weather. Your Grass should not be cut 3 days before treatment and not cut again until at least 4 days after treatment.

It is easy to apply, the 16kg bag will treat a 200 sqm lawn. Empty the contents of the bag into a spreader and distribute the sand evenly over the infected area. If you do it by hand, please use a glove.

Leave for 48 hours to allow the mixture to work itself in.

Water heavily

Summer Lawn Moss Treatment

Early Summer, apply a lawn fertilizer to get the grass growing again
Mow the lawn properly, regularly, throughout the summer - NOT too short
Keep the lawn well watered in drought conditions to allow the new grass to keep growing.
Take note of any areas of dense shade on your lawn, and try to minimize this if possible.

Autumn Lawn Moss Treatment

In the Autumn, give the lawn a good raking or mechanical scarifying, and aerate.
Apply top dressing at this time if the lawn is either uneven, or in need of an organic 'injection'. Particularly useful on weak sandy soils.
Carry out a soil test at some stage in the summer/autumn to assess the acidity of the soil. If in need of adjustment, then lime can be applied in the autumn.

Westland Lawn Sand, 16 kg

Resolva Moss Killer

Pressure Sprayer, 5 L

Winter Lawn Moss Treatment

Keep off lawns in the winter months in order to avoid compaction of the surface.

If by the autumn, your lawn is growing well, then most if not all of the moss in your lawn will have been controlled or even eradicated. Further spot treatments may be needed, or maybe even a full treatment for most lawns again the following spring.

Dry Soils and Moss

Dry soil is susceptible to mosses which tend to grow in upright habit with small leaves.
Damp, compacted and waterlogged lawns usually results in mosses that have a creeping habit.
Cushion habit mosses usually state that you are mowing the grass too short.

A close look at the enlarged image will see that the scarcity of grass in this lawn is allowing the moss to take over.

First signs of moss taking hold in this generally uncared-for lawn. It has a build-up of thatch, and has been lacking in proper care and attention resulting in poor grass that leads the way open to moss taking over. The maintenance regime as outlined above for moss in lawns would do much to alleviate this problem.

Moss in the Turf

If you are buying turf from a turf supplier, you should unroll the turves and inspect for any signs of mass in the turf. If there is any trace of moss in the turf, then it is a sure sign that there will be other problems with the turf as well, and basically it has not been grown with the care and attention you should expect!

Simply treating or killing the moss in your lawn is not the answer. By far the best Lawn Moss killer Treatment is to make sure that your grass is growing properly!

From the Mailbox

Question. After reading your article online Gardenseeker about using moss killer, I have a question. Why do people use moss killer at all? Moss is easy to rake up and kill without using it. And if dies due to the use of the killer, it still has to be raked up--especially if the area is to be reseeded. Most of my lawn is a carpet of moss. If I would have used moss killer when the moss confined to a certain area, would it have helped prevent it from spreading? Just wondering..... Thank you, Garry

Answer Thanks for your mail and observations.
The short answer to your last question, is 'no'. Mosskiller simply kills the 'visible' problem. The cause does not go away - a lawn that needs attention as outlined jn the article. Using mosskiller is a quick fix, not dissimilar to applying cosmetics to wrinkles. However, in the case of moss, you can remedy the underlying problems!

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Related Products

Westland Lawn Sand, 16 kg

Resolva Moss Killer

Beyer Garden Moss Killer

Maxicrop Moss Killer

Pressure Sprayer, 5 L

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