Overseeing soon, Recommend me a Moss Killer?

Hi again guys, learning so much here!

Can someone please link me up with a cheap moss killer please? I find this whole iron sulphate and ferrous sulphate thing a little confusing (pardon a newbie!).

I'd hate to buy the wrong type and mess up the lawns,

Im hoping to overseed next month.

I don't need much as all 3 of my lawns are under 50 metres squares in total

Thanks Peeps.

ps - Already applied the Verdone Concentrate and it got rid of 80% of the weeds, the rest I will remove by hand prior to overseeding.

 

I'm ideally looking for Moss Killer Only, the weeding and feeding has been done already

 

They're both the same thing!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron(II)_sulfate

 

The most effective way I've found to get rid of moss and keep it away is to chuck sharp sand or grit on, then get to work with the rake. BUT, that was on my front lawn which was quite far gone when I started on it so I didn't care too much about the existing grass. It worked though. More moss than I thought possible came up and it hasn't come back because sand (or any very free draining material presumably) is not a comfortable environment for moss, which prefers a bit of shade and moisture to be present at the surface.

 

Im going to get some sharp sand to ammend my clay soil, so Il do that, how much of a layer are we talking?

 

Not enough to actually cover grass. It just needs to end up a few millimeters deep, and with all the raking, it just sort of vanishes.

 

That may have worked (temporarily) for your lawn though, but is not recommended for most lawns.
Without putting a moss control down, you're just spreading it all over the place.

 

The moss control is the inhospitable environment created by the sand, which moss hates, on account of sand being very free draining and moss being very, very shallow rooted. I was told this trick by an old boy who had an amazing garden for very little effort, who never used chemicals of any kind. Worked for him, worked for me.

Out of interest, how did grounds keepers of posh estates keep the lawns nice before we filled the world with chemicals?

 

The problem is, do that on a sandy soil and you're just making the problem worse. The grass will need to be fed loads and there will be no humous or other organic material in the soil at all.
If you leave the mowings on the lawn to feed the grass organically, that will build up a thatch layer and you'll get moss in again. As I've said before, it may have been a good solution for your clay soil on your small lawn, but it's not recommended for most people due to the effort and expense involved.

They used an army of workers to scythe lawns on a regular basis, or aminals. This kept the parkland grass lovely and long and healthy, being fed by the clippings or naturally by manure.
They looked great from a distance, but were literally fields close-up.
They also didn't grow grass in well used areas or in shade because they couldn't keep it alive. Moss generally isn't much of an issue in full sun because the grass can be strong enough to fight it off.

 

Back to the original question ... any iron (or ferrous) sulphate will do the trick, although you'll need to dissolve it in water and spray it on, preferably with a backpack sprayer.

Be aware though that it can badly stain if you spill it. This includes hard surfaces such as patios , driveways and wooden decking (ask my wife about that last one ) so be careful with it.

Also make sure you cover the whole lawn, as it is the most visually striking treatment you can put down. If you miss any bits, it'll really show up!

 

I buy iron / ferrous sulphate off eBay, although that may not be cost effective if you only want a small amount. Check the eBay price and then have a look in your local garden centre perhaps?

 

Im think of trying this from ebay

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sulphate-...rden_Plants_Fertiliser_CV&hash=item2328479abc

Do I "need" to spray it on or can I just throw it into a water can with a fine rose end like I did for the VERDONE treatment?

My lawns are too small to warrant me buying a backpack sprayer, my neighbours will chuckle when they see me treat my 10 square metre front lawn with it, lol (the 2 back ones are double the size).

On the ebay page it says "Appx 3g to 1 litre of water ", but doesnt say how much lawn this will treat?

Thanks guys

 

Ask the supplier.