▷ Killing Moss in Your Lawn: Why It Occurs

Does killing moss in your lawn give you a headache every year? Don’t believe the popular myth that moss necessarily means acidic soil. If you understand the conditions under which they occur, you will know how to overcome them.

THE MYTH OF ACID SOIL

It is often believed that if moss appears on the lawn, it means that the soil is acidic. It would seem that the solution is to use special additives that will change the pH of the soil and then the moss will disappear on its own.

Unfortunately, an acidic environment is not always the cause. Therefore, reducing acidity may not achieve your goal. It would be even worse if your soil was actually alkaline: then you would make the pH even more alkaline.

Killing moss in the lawn

UNDER WHICH CONDITIONS DOES MOSS GROW?

Moss, in fact, is a particularly undemanding plant, therefore it will appear where nothing else will grow. Moss can grow where:

Stay in the shade;
It is very humid;
Compacted earth;
Barren land.

In other words, moss can grow almost anywhere. In landscaping classes we often get questions about moss in the lawn, but when we dig deeper it turns out that the moss “attacks” where the lawn grows in shade. This is the most common reason.

One more thing to mention: if the grass is cut too low, practically mowed, the grass weakens, open areas of the soil appear and moss appears there.

Killing moss in your lawn is useless if you don’t take care of what will grow in its place. In this photo, the grass was cut very short, so it didn’t take long for moss to appear on the lawn. photo L. Liubertaitė

In all these cases, killing moss in the lawn is a useless job if we do not take care of what will appear in the place where we eradicate the moss.

WHO WILL WIN: MOSS OR MEADOW GRASS

Moss can grow in particularly unfavorable conditions, while meadow grasson the contrary, it is very demanding. In order for it to grow and green beautifully, it needs:

sun,
many nutrients
enough moisture (but not soaking),
loose and good soils.

If they don’t get something, the lawn grass immediately begins to die and empty areas of the lawn appear. And that’s where the moss settles.

So your problem isn’t that you have moss, but that the conditions aren’t right for your lawn. All that’s left is 2 solutions:

or you put up with the moss and it remains as a soft green addition to the lawn,
or you are looking to improve the condition of your lawn.

HOW TO LAY THE LAWN:

If there is a lawn in the shadefill in the blanks shade tolerant meadow seed mix;
If you suspect that the soil is very compact, ventilate lawn, so that the soil is softer and the roots get more air;
Support humidity ratio: if the place is humid, stop less, if the place is particularly dry, stop more often;
Cut the grass a little every now and then taller but thicker – in this way you will strengthen the roots;
And the most effective way is simply fertilize the lawn will grow faster and take the place of the moss.

DESTROYING MOSS IN THE LAWN: OTHER WAYS

In any gardening store you will find additives that kill moss. They are mostly based on ferrous sulfate. If you don’t pay attention, you can buy them without even suspecting it: these additives are often added to lawn fertilizers. If it seems important to you, read the labels and you will find the words “lawn fertilizer against moss“. If you don’t want use special additives, pay attention to this.