Bumper crop of...Moss!

I have never seen the Moss as bad as this Autumn. Every morning I see my driveway and paths are greener than the day before!

I have a tarmac driveway of about 100 yards and roughly 400 yards of pathways (mostly crazy paving, not my choice but here when we moved here). I need to do something, if nothing else just reduce the amount of Moss as the chances of getting rid of all of it is zero.

I have looked on the net and there are various makes of Moss killer. I am hoping to get some recommendations. Obviously I have a lot of area to deal with so a small bottle from the local garden centre isn't what I need. I am also slightly worried as to any effect there might be to the grass adjacent to the driveway/paths and more importantly if any run off might effect my shrubs/herbaceous plants. I have Jeyes Fluid which I believe kills Moss? but not sure that is the right option. Also no idea as to when is the optimum time to deal with the Moss ie now or best to leave it (hope not) until, next Spring. Hope someone can help, thanks.

 

There's a safe product called 'Wet and Forget' which a kind GC'er recommended ,I did get some but have yet to use it but the write up looks good

 

Silu - I use sulphate of iron diluted in water at the correct rate . This will kill the moss on paths or lawns and green up the lawn ! It will be the active ingredient of all the very expensive Moss-Kill solutions.
The Iron Sulphate in a garden centre is normally just 10% ferrous sulphate . You need to buy the stuff that is over 90% ferrous sulphate - I got mine from Ebay link below.
You then need to make sure you get the solution strength correct for a moss kill or lawn feed example below....

Watering can = 9 litres = 12 sq m
Sulphate of iron as a moss kill = 4 to 5gm / sq m
Dosage per watering can 45 gm

http://www.nodiggardener.co.uk/2013/02/using-iron-sulphate-to-control-moss.html
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1kg-IRON-SULPHATE-FERROUS-SULPHATE-/121017167897

 

This sounds a very good idea Harry S as unsurprisingly I have a bumper crop of Moss in my grass too. Have read the links you provided and Sulphate of Iron won't affect/may even be beneficial to my large number of Rhododendron, Azaleas and Meconopsis, many of which are close to the offending paths and driveway. I was concerned that what I might use would damage my "babies". Off to see if I can source a 25kg or similar bag, locally. Thanks very much Harry. Funnily enough there was a jar labelled of iron Sulphate in the garage when we moved here. Was clueless as to what to use it for so binned it

 

Well 1 kg of Iron sulphate will do 200 sq metres at 5gm per metre². I would see if you can buy a 1kg bag - it must be 90% ferrous sulphate ( not the general stuff at 10% ). As usual try a small area first, the moss will go black in about 30 minutes. Then I leave it for about two weeks and rake it off the lawn . I top dress the patches with a 50 50 mix of sharp sand and top soil.

 

Thanks Harry. I certainly will do a test area 1st but I do have a very large garden of about 1 1/2 acres with roughly 400 yrds of paths, and 200/50 yards of driveway..sigh! I also have a sand arena which is not currently used, that too has now got very mossy, that's 25 mtrs x 120mtrs so thought it best to invest in a large quantity! Visa vie top dressing with sand. To be honest my grass is NOT good but I just have so many other things to do I tend to just cut it and when short the weeds don't show too much! I've had building works done here recently and the builders have left me 6 x 20/25 kg bags of white silica sand which they didn't want to take with them. I tested it with litmus paper (know it's only a rough guide) and it resulted in the silica sand being on the Alkali side but nothing major. Could I use this to top dress my grass?( I can't possibly call it a lawn!).Again if this sand isn't suitable I'd need to get quantities of sand delivered, bank balance hit AGAIN! Having a huge garden is great but.......

 

hmmm just read Iron sulphate may stain concrete and paving slabs , so it may not be suitable for this. It really is great on mossy lawns though.

Now that is a big area ! Read above for path warning though .
Not sure if silica sand can be used on lawns. If this is just builders sand , I would say no. Possibly one of our gurus may advise.

 

Isn't that the stuff that if you walk through it just after applying it, and then walk across timber decking, you'll leave footprint stains all over it?

 

Moss will grow where it is wet and cool so prevention would involve improving drainage and allowing more sunlight to the area. This might not always be possible.

There are 3 ways that I know of to remove the moss, you can manually remove it by brushing (hard work), pressure wash it (could potentially damage the surface), or use chemicals. The best way I think is to use a chemical and the best I know is MMC pro