Moss on Lawns

I was looking on Facebook today and saw people are posting images of neighbour’s gardens who have big lawns. The grass is in good condition, but their criticisms are coming from the fact that people STILL have lawns and not converted them to gardens that don’t need water. In fact opinions are so strong it’s like a lynch mob and even councils in America are offering rate rebates for people who ditch the sprinklers in favour of plants that are drought tolerant. I think we are safe for a while yet until people turn their noses up at our lawns –as long as it rains. 

The other comments are that lawns take up a lot of herbicide to keep it looking weed free and healthy. This need not be the case and although I have mentioned before that more veggie patches are needed, I still see the need for grass areas especially if you have children, dogs of have a disability where you just rely on the grass being low maintenance. I’m coming out in defence of lawns! Who would have thought it? I suppose it’s because I don’t like being told what to do.

Moss in the Lawn

It’s not all plain sailing with lawns though as we do tend to have an issue prevalent in Inishowen which requires a bit of work every year. Hands up who has a lawn that doesn’t have moss in it?.... No hands? I thought not.

Moss on lawns could be an indication of waterlogging. On new lawns this may be due to poor site preparation. On established lawns poor vigour, acidic soil conditions, a lack of feed, insufficient aeration, poor drainage, shade, close mowing and over-use are likely to blame. So it could be anything really.

Nowhere is safe

And don’t think pretend grass is exempt either, imitation grass can also get things growing on it, nothing is safe. There are different mosses depending on where they are growing. Several types of moss grow on lawns. These are usually coarse, loose, green or yellowish-green tufts between the grass, but can form densely matted tufts or, in the case of Polystichum, appear like small forests of miniature Christmas trees.

Poor growing conditions favour the growth of moss in lawns. These might include:

• Sparse grass cover
• Worn areas of turf, especially along walkways and where children play
• Shady areas, especially beneath trees
• Compacted soil
• Wet weather and waterlogged conditions
• Drought-stressed grass
• Mowing too close
• Impoverished lawns or infertile soil
• Poorly prepared or poorly maintained lawns
• Acidic soil conditions

Non-chemical control

To keep the lawn critics happy we can work naturally with the ground to improve things. 

Scarification: Remove loose moss in autumn, by scarification (vigorous raking). On small lawns this can be done by hand, raking out the moss with a spring-tine rake, but on larger lawns mechanical scarifiers can be hired. 

I’m not going to mention chemical control, you are on your own with that I am afraid although having a dog helps to kill everything when they go to the loo. There are a few organic weed and feed products on the market which might save a bit of time and need to scarify, but these are not combatting the root cause of the problem. It might be worth checking them out though as a temporary measure.

Moss prevention

To prevent moss returning, encourage vigorous grass growth by organic feeding and regular lawn maintenance, paying particular attention to the following:

When seeding or laying a lawn in a shaded area, use a grass seed mix or turf specified for shady areas.  Reducing shade will also help.

For compacted areas use a garden fork to spike the lawn, or a mechanical slitter on large lawns. This will aerate the turf.

On heavy soils use a manual or mechanical  hollow-tiner in autumn to take out small plugs of soil every three or four years, and then brush in a mixture of three parts sandy loam, six parts sharp sand and one part peat substitute by volume

Avoid mowing grass too short

On very acid soils an application of garden lime at not more than 50g per sq m (1½oz per sq yd), will slightly reduce acidity and discourage moss.