Moss, moss, everywhere!

[Buick29]

Hi everyone,
As the header says moss, moss all over my lawn, it is so bad it’s like walking on a sponge! How and what is the best treatment for this? I fear that taking it up and relaying a new lawn might be the only answer but it’s a big lawn so expense might prohibit this method!

 

[Sean Regan]

Try soluble iron sulphate it'll kill the moss but not the grass. Leave it a couple of weeks then scarifiy it.

 

[Tetters]

Is your lawn growing on clay @Buick29 or is it just very shady there?

Welcome to the forums

 

[Buick29]

Soil seems good if centre flower bed is anything to go by, there is a tree in the bottom left corner, so certainly shade could be an issue there, but the rest of the lawn is in mostly sunny position

 

[Tetters]

Although I`m not clever enough to have the answers straight off, I am wondering what the cause of the problem is then.
Is your garden walled? Is there any chance of putting a photo on please? There are a great many different types of moss, so a close up would possibly be helpful.
Not all of these plants need shade and moisture by the bucketfull. There is a south facing wall in our village which stays very dry most of the time and it is covered in all kinds of mosses !
You haven`t said in your profile which part of the country you `re in, but here in Kent we are having some lovely wet rain at the moment. Is your lawn wet/waterlogged?

 

[Jewell]

Take a look here for a variety of answers Moss in lawn
With water shortages always a possibility it’s good to look at a variety of options and find what meets your esthetic.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Or you could carefully weed out the grass and have a Japanese garden

Seriously, firstly the flower bed may well have been improved and not reflect what is under the lawn. Are you new to the garden, chat to your neighbours, if you have a problem similar to mine, with clay on top of sandstone , so will everyone else.
I bought a small electric scarifier with a changeable roller for a rake as well, and lawn sand with the iron salt that kills the moss and a bit of nitrogen to encourage the grass. The lawn sand turned the moss black and the scarifier took out most of it, but it is an ongoing process.

The lawn sand has warnings about using it near shrubs and trees so some places I have been simply using the rake attachment, with a surprising degree of success. Its main drawback is the tiny collection box that continually wants emptying, but I have found it quite easy to leave the box off and run over with the mower to pick up afterwards

 

[DirtMechanic]

I wonder if a low C is a component of this problem. It seems likely, given bacteria capable of dissolving minerals like iron via enzymes are also carbon consumers. I have been interested lately with the other major nutrients beyond NPK, Carbon, Oxygen and Hydrogen.

 

[Buick29]

Morning all,
Oliver: ty for your answer and I agree about flower bed, we have had this lawn for the 25yrs we have been here, so, not new to us, I will post a couple of pics later today, we live in rural Perthshire no close neighbours. Moss has really only become an issue the past four years, always had a small amount of moss but this past four years it has just taken over, now looks like more moss than grass!

 

[Tetters]

Looking forward to the pictures. As Oliver says, sometimes it`s a good plan to just go with what you have - moss is quite pretty in it`s own right, and just think - no more mowing