More moss than grass.....

We have bought a cottage in the Scottish borders and whilst the lawn borders are in good condition with lots of interesting plants the lawn is more a case of "oh dear me".

At a guess it is 80% moss and the rest grass. We have a lot on our plates with the building and are looking for a not labour intensive way of dealing with the lawn. Not this season though: it is a job to tackle in 2017.

The soil seems pretty good and the lawn gets a lot of sun as it faces pretty much a tad west of south. Whether the drainage is good we don't yet know but the lawn is some 3 feet above the paved area around the cottage and as part of damp works we intend installing a "French drain" around the building which will improve the drainage from the garden we hope, not to mention stop the water getting to the foundations.

Suggestions very welcome.

PH

 

We have a user called Zola who did a lot of scarifying aerating and reseeding work last year to tackle moss in his/her lawn. Have a look at his/her threads. I think he/she also has a new thread for this year for a continuation of last years lawn renovation.

 

Many thanks. Some frightening reading there!

 

Bought a Mantis tiller today along with a lawn care kit.

Wondering if it would be more beneficial to go over the lawn using the aeration kit before starting on the moss removal? Only got two days to give the job before I have to return to the old house and it will be a month before I can get back up to it.

Thoughts anyone please?

PH

 

I'd be inclined to scarify the hell out of it first then throw a moss killer down to hopefully kill the rest off, but that's just me!

 

Well I took off 21 builders barrows of thatch from some 400 sq yds of grass and then tried the aerator blades but the ground was just too dry and the machine just walked over it. I put the spreader together and dosed it with moss killer and grass fertilizer. Got to wait a month now before the next run up there so time will tell.

 

Not a bad start. Any photos ?

 

Nice! That's a good yield of the horrible stuff. Satisfying isn't it?

Do you think you got most of it now?

Mine was in a horrible state last year, I scarified it heavily twice and whilst its looking quite good now, I think another two good seasons of scarifying in Autumn will have it sitting very well in the future.

 

I wish but no I have dosed it with a "normal" moss killer and fertilizer and part of it with an organic one which claims to digest the dead moss so will see in a months time.

I am planning on aerating when ever the ground is soft enough for the tiller to penetrate which is one of the down sides to the lightness of the Mantis. I am also planning on another session of dethatching in the Autumn and again next year same as you. I have to say though the Mantis did an excellent job of removing the material and I was very grateful it was not more powerful as you work against the machine for best results. As in the tiller is wanting to go forward and it is best to pull it back against the force to lift more material. As I have an arthritic knee it was not very comfortable but obviously with more power it would have been worse.

 

I think you will be fine now. The Borders had a really wet winter hence the moss attack and soggy lawns.
I had the same so did the iron sulphate,waited 2 weeks scarified the hell out of it put down some autumn feed/weed (had some in shed) and fed again with miracle grow and now its looking great.

And welcome to the Scottish Borders.

 

Does lime help keep moss at bay ?

 

Not at bay but if you have Acidic soil which moss does like and poor grass then lime can be used. Low pH4
It your soil is 5.5 to 6.0 it's pretty good but before thinking of dumping lime dressing onto a lawn you need to test the soil pH levels.
Mosses are grouped into 3 sections, upright mosses, trailing/fern, tufted/mat forming.
each type gives a basic clue of the next step to identify why it's there.

 

After three weeks of the moss killing... I scarified again taking another 20 barrow loads off. The "chemical" treatment has worked well and the organic treatment well.... not impressed TBH. I have rightly or wrongly used 5kg of a tough seed mix, watered it in and had a nice heavy dew this morning to get it going and in another three weeks we shall see....

 

Job well done! Getting rid of moss is a real nightmare.

You've probably already done it but gently raking the seed into the grass hides it very well from certain birds who will gorge on exposed seed. Any areas that are bare may be worthwhile sprinkling and raking a bit of topsoil over to disguise the seed, not to mention regular watering with a fine spray.