The United Kingdom is great place for moss to thrive; it can be found virtually anywhere; stone, trees and is a considerable problem in many established lawns.
Moss is from one of the least complicated groups of the plant kingdom – Bryophyta of which there are over 500 species that occur naturally in the UK. If you have moss in your lawn it is likely you are not caring for your lawn.
It usually assumed that if your lawn has a moss problem is a because your lawn is waterlogged, capped and acidic. However moss can survive well in all sorts of soil conditions.
To have the perfect lawn you can be proud of a lawn should only contain health lawn grass plants, no weeds or moss.
By caring for your lawn with fertilizer, good drainage and strong grass plants, moss can be successfully eradicated.
There are many causes for moss in your lawn.
- Poor drainage / over drainage
- Thatch
- Bare patches
- Diseased turf
- Poor nutrients in your soil
- Shade
- The time of year
- And general neglect to name a few.
Wherever moss can find a space it will invade and compete with your grass, a strong healthy lawn is the only way to stop moss invasion.
Sulphate of Iron or Ferrous Sulphate will kill moss and is relatively cheap. Dead moss should then be scarified out of the lawn and new grass seed sown. Whenever you scarify your lawn, you should oversow your lawn with fresh lawn seed at an at least 15grm per sqm.
Once moss has been controlled unless the source of the problem is managed moss will return. Always oversow the eradicated areas with fresh grass seed, to out compete moss.
By feeding your lawn with a lawn fertilizer such as Sulphate of ammonia at 9 – 18 grms per sqm although Sulphate of ammonia does not kill moss, it does encourage strong grass growth.