1 day Ago By Angela Patrone
Maintaining a moss -free lawn is crucial for the health of your grass. Moss can swiftly dominate a lawn in the spring, obstructing the flow of nutrients and sunlight to the soil, vital for plant growth. Philip Voice, a lawn expert from Landscape Juice, shared the reason moss grows.
He claimed that sunlight is essential for photosynthesis to take place, and if your grass has to work too hard, it will weaken, and undesirable grass species, as well as moss, can start to colonise the surface of your lawn. The presence of moss is often indicative of damp, shadowy conditions, which suggest an issue with waterlogged, poorly draining soil. For those looking to cultivate a lush, green lawn devoid of moss, it’s necessary to aerate and scarify the lawn, which helps prevent soil compaction.
Offering his insights, the gardening expert stated: “Moss is often wrongly described as the cause of a poor lawn. Moss is, in fact, a result of having a poor lawn. The rule of thumb is to keep your root zone in good condition and improve overall growing conditions.
Your grass will grow strongly, making it impossible for moss and weeds to compete.” But if you’re confident that your garden soil is already in top shape, perhaps your lawn just requires an extra dose of nutrients, and there's a straightforward solution to enhance its vigour. On this point, Philip advised: “Good aeration is essential, but sometimes you might need some chemical help to assist - a simple treatment is the application of sulphate of iron, to help suppress the moss.
“The common moss that is present in many lawns is springy moss; its properties are made up of over 90% water. Sulphate of iron will quickly expel the water and allow the grass to strengthen.” Iron sulphate acts as a key agent in making soil less acidic, preventing the growth of moss in your garden.
It draws moisture from moss to effectively kill it, whilst simultaneously being a boon for grass by enhancing chlorophyll production, leading to increased energy storage in the lawn. Adding iron sulphate to your lawn not only combats moss but also revives grass colour, remedying the yellow, patchy appearance often caused by a lack of iron. Phillip noted: “Even after as little as one hour, moss will start blackening; after two days, the moss content will have reduced and turned dark brown whilst the grass will have turned extremely green.
” For the method, simply apply iron sulphate to your lawn the day following rain so that the moisture helps dissolve it. Take care to choose a calm day to avoid blowing the compound onto other plants. This technique provides an uncomplicated method to clear away moss while fostering grass health, ensuring your lawn looks lush and vibrant throughout spring and summer.
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