Best lawn moss killer?

BigfeetBigfeet Posts: 14,180
Forum Member
✭✭
I mowed my lawns today for the first time this year, and there's loads of moss on some sections.

Same happened last year and I used a feed/weed/moss killer treatment on it a couple of times (can't remember which one) which worked a bit but not completely, and now the moss is back more than ever - some sections are just springy, feels like I'm walking on my bedroom carpet, not lawn :D .

Which moss killer products would anyone here recommend?

Cheers :) .
«1

Comments

  • BarbellaBarbella Posts: 5,417
    Forum Member
    You can ususally shift a lot of it by raking it out, its surprisingly loose - but it depends how big your lawn is and how much energy you have.

    I ususally put a moss killer on in the autumn and hadn't thought of a spring one.
  • BigfeetBigfeet Posts: 14,180
    Forum Member
    ✭✭
    Barbella wrote: »
    You can ususally shift a lot of it by raking it out, its surprisingly loose - but it depends how big your lawn is and how much energy you have.

    I ususally put a moss killer on in the autumn and hadn't thought of a spring one.

    Yeah - I know it's pretty loose, have pulled some up to use in my hanging baskets and plant troughs before now :D .

    Lawns are really quite big though, so don't fancy raking the whole lot out, although I suppose it would be a good upper body workout without going to a gym :D .
  • BarbellaBarbella Posts: 5,417
    Forum Member
    Bigfeet wrote: »
    Yeah - I know it's pretty loose, have pulled some up to use in my hanging baskets and plant troughs before now :D .

    Lawns are really quite big though, so don't fancy raking the whole lot out, although I suppose it would be a good upper body workout without going to a gym :D .

    I did 3 hours in the garden yesterday( not just raking) and I was aching like mad when I got to the gym this morning - I should save on the fees and just do the garden 3 times a week.:)
  • cosmocosmo Posts: 26,840
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    You can get an electric rake.

    Link
  • SigurdSigurd Posts: 26,610
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    There are of course all sorts of cultural measures that one is meant to take, like aerating and scarifying the lawn, not cutting it too closely, feeding the grass to keep it growing strongly, improving drainage and reducing shade. However, it's not always easy to achieve these things. Since I live in a dampish part of the country and my garden is partly shaded by trees and a high wall, I've come to the conclusion that my grass is always going to have a moss problem.

    There used to be stuff called dichlorophen that was widely used, but it was banned back in 2007, and now the only available chemical is ferrous (iron) sulphate. It's the active ingredient in lawn sand and in the various lawn fertilisers that claim to control moss. I've never found the combined weed, feed and moss-kill fertilisers to be all that good at controlling moss, though, and I think this year I may have a go with lawn sand (which I've never tried before) or else with soluble ferrous sulphate, which is fairly inexpensive:

    http://www.lawnsmith.co.uk/shop/fertiliser-products/winter-iron-lawn-fertilisers/greenup-soluble-ferrous-sulphate/

    I don't know how readily that's available from garden centres, but Lawnsmith charges £4.95 for delivery to most of the country, which doesn't seem too outrageous. I've got a feeling that ferrous sulphate could be messy stuff to apply, though, since it turns moss black but has the same effect on skin and probably clothes, so some sort of protective clothing would seem to be a good idea when spraying it on the lawn.

    Advice here:

    http://www.grassclippings.co.uk/grassclippings/2009/02/how-to-control-moss-with-sulphate-of-iron.html

    PS: I have a lawn rake attachment for my Mantis tiller, and I'll need to get that into action before too long. It removes a remarkable quantity of moss and dead grass, but then that has to be taken off the lawn, which is a bit of a hassle.
  • BigfeetBigfeet Posts: 14,180
    Forum Member
    ✭✭
    cosmo wrote: »
    You can get an electric rake.

    Link

    Great - thanks cosmo - I wasn't aware of them - that might just be an option, just read some reviews and people seem to rave about electric lawnrakes in general :) .
  • BigfeetBigfeet Posts: 14,180
    Forum Member
    ✭✭
    Sigurd wrote: »
    There are of course all sorts of cultural measures that one is meant to take, like aerating and scarifying the lawn, not cutting it too closely, feeding the grass to keep it growing strongly, improving drainage and reducing shade. However, it's not always easy to achieve these things. Since I live in a dampish part of the country and my garden is partly shaded by trees and a high wall, I've come to the conclusion that my grass is always going to have a moss problem.

    There used to be stuff called dichlorophen that was widely used, but it was banned back in 2007, and now the only available chemical is ferrous (iron) sulphate. It's the active ingredient in lawn sand and in the various lawn fertilisers that claim to control moss. I've never found the combined weed, feed and moss-kill fertilisers to be all that good at controlling moss, though, and I think this year I may have a go with lawn sand (which I've never tried before) or else with soluble ferrous sulphate, which is fairly inexpensive:

    http://www.lawnsmith.co.uk/shop/fertiliser-products/winter-iron-lawn-fertilisers/greenup-soluble-ferrous-sulphate/

    I don't know how readily that's available from garden centres, but Lawnsmith charges £4.95 for delivery to most of the country, which doesn't seem too outrageous. I've got a feeling that ferrous sulphate could be messy stuff to apply, though, since it turns moss black but has the same effect on skin and probably clothes, so some sort of protective clothing would seem to be a good idea when spraying it on the lawn.

    Advice here:

    http://www.grassclippings.co.uk/grassclippings/2009/02/how-to-control-moss-with-sulphate-of-iron.html

    PS: I have a lawn rake attachment for my Mantis tiller, and I'll need to get that into action before too long. It removes a remarkable quantity of moss and dead grass, but then that has to be taken off the lawn, which is a bit of a hassle.

    Ta Sigurd, useful information there, and yes, I sound in a similar position to yourself - high walls and trees etc.

    :)
  • SigurdSigurd Posts: 26,610
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    The drawback with some of the electric lawn rakes is that their collection boxes are far too small and fill up very rapidly. OK if you've got a smallish lawn, though.
  • BigfeetBigfeet Posts: 14,180
    Forum Member
    ✭✭
    Sigurd wrote: »
    The drawback with some of the electric lawn rakes is that their collection boxes are far too small and fill up very rapidly. OK if you've got a smallish lawn, though.

    Yep, I read that in some of the reviews.

    My lawns are pretty big, particularly the back one, I wouldn't really mind walking up and down to empty though, plus I could always wheel the garden waste wheelie bin so far up :) .
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 12,881
    Forum Member
    ✭✭
    We have a company that comes and sprays the lawns four times a year for £14 a time (Green Thumb). We have a large back garden and worked out by the time we had bought the products and spent ages out there it was money well spent.

    The grass was very mossy when we moved in and it has worked really well. :)
  • GaseousClayGaseousClay Posts: 4,313
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    You could try Lawn sand
    http://www.greenfingers.com/superstore/product.asp?dept_id=340&pf_id=LS6919D

    edit: Ooops, just noticed is similar to what Sigurd posted.
  • SigurdSigurd Posts: 26,610
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    We have a company that comes and sprays the lawns four times a year for £14 a time (Green Thumb). We have a large back garden and worked out by the time we had bought the products and spent ages out there it was money well spent.

    The grass was very mossy when we moved in and it has worked really well. :)
    My brother has used Green Thumb for a few years now and it looks as if they offer a pretty good deal, but unfortunately they don't operate in my area. It seems to be a franchise operation:

    http://www.greenthumb.co.uk/

    Compared to the cost of buying lawn feed and so on independently, though, their charges seem pretty reasonable.
  • DavidTDavidT Posts: 20,225
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    Sigurd wrote: »
    The drawback with some of the electric lawn rakes is that their collection boxes are far too small and fill up very rapidly. OK if you've got a smallish lawn, though.

    This is true. I had a Black & Decker lawn rake and it removed a staggering amount of rubbish. However the collection box would be full almost as soon as I started it up. It also used to chuck the stuff over the top of the collection box rather than in to it. So I took the box off and used it without and then used the lawnmower to pick up all the debris.

    I now have a Flymo lawn raker with a built in collection box which holds much more. However compared to my old Black & Decker one it doesn't seem to rake anywhere near as well even on the lowest setting possible. Be interested in anyone else's comparison's if they have any.

    I used to work in a shop many years ago that hired out the rakes and the one common theme we got was the sheer amazement of the customers when they used them of how much stuff would be raked out. Even on a small lawn you'd get sacks and sacks out of it.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 218
    Forum Member
    I've tried the combined weed/feed/moss killer from Wilkinsons with limited effect.
    Just had a look on the earlier reccomended 'Greenthumb' site and the nearest premises is York.Does anyone know what the liquid treatment they use is and if so where to buy it.(Or anything similar)
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 127
    Forum Member
    Evergreen feed and weed did the job for me, did it Wednesday and the moss had died 24 hrs later. It just goes brown and then it easily rakes out.
  • SigurdSigurd Posts: 26,610
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    Evergreen feed and weed did the job for me, did it Wednesday and the moss had died 24 hrs later. It just goes brown and then it easily rakes out.
    In the current Evergreen range, you'd need Evergreen Complete rather than Evergreen Feed & Weed, since the latter doesn't appear to contain a moss killer.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 18,013
    Forum Member
    ✭✭
    Ask your local bowling club what they use. They'll have plenty of lawns and be well used to the problem. Alternatively, phone Wembley and ask them why Spurs bothered turning up today :D I mean, what they use :o

    Wembley, not Spurs :eek:
  • SigurdSigurd Posts: 26,610
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    All of the lawn moss killers available to amateur gardeners use exactly the same active ingredient, namely our old chum ferrous sulphate. See the sections on lawn moss control in this document:

    http://www.rhs.org.uk/RHSWebsite/files/b4/b41f3df3-ae2f-406f-a688-461819eddbf8.pdf

    That's just the same stuff that's in the compound weed, feed and moss kill products. I think professionals can still use dichlorophen, but they also put a lot of effort into improving the cultural conditions of the turf by feeding, aerating, scarifying and top dressing it to keep the grass growing strongly and to alleviate the conditions that encourage moss.

    My own attitude is that I'll do basic cutting, weeding, feeding and scarifying of my grass but I'm not going to be too obsessive about it, because I'm not trying to get a bowling green or a croquet lawn but just a reasonably green, healthy-looking lawn.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 127
    Forum Member
    Sigurd wrote: »
    In the current Evergreen range, you'd need Evergreen Complete rather than Evergreen Feed & Weed, since the latter doesn't appear to contain a moss killer.

    Sorry yeah, the complete one is the stuff.
  • HiZHiZ Posts: 177
    Forum Member
    I bought a scarrifier from Lidl a few years back for £50 and it has big sipnning blade/knives. 7 bin liner bags of moss come out of my lawn this weekend!!

    I think I may need to treat the cause though, maybe cutting it too short or needs airiating properly.
  • SystemSystem Posts: 2,096,970
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    You need Gramoxone. Put it over the entire garden.
  • SigurdSigurd Posts: 26,610
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    FluffyEgg wrote: »
    You need Gramoxone. Put it over the entire garden.
    If you can get it, since it was withdrawn from sale two or three years ago. I have a neighbour who used to garden with Roundup on a sort of horticultural scorched-earth policy whereby anything green must die, but his wife seems to have made him a bit more plant-friendly now.
  • SigurdSigurd Posts: 26,610
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    Sorry yeah, the complete one is the stuff.
    It can get very confusing with all the varieties of lawn feed, feed & weed, feed, weed & moss kill, or just plain plain moss kill, most of which seem to be produced by the Scott Miracle-Gro Company.
  • Mad HatterMad Hatter Posts: 776
    Forum Member
    ✭✭
    I mowed my lawns for the first time on Thursday and today raked a very very small area of one lawn and a mountain of moss appeared. My back is killing me, however there is a Greenthumb franchise a couple of towns away and I have e-mailed them tonight about them coming to treat my lawns so thanks for that stargazer/Sigurd.
  • SystemSystem Posts: 2,096,970
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    Sigurd wrote: »
    If you can get it, since it was withdrawn from sale two or three years ago. I have a neighbour who used to garden with Roundup on a sort of horticultural scorched-earth policy whereby anything green must die, but his wife seems to have made him a bit more plant-friendly now.

    I didn't know it was withdrawn! I have just done a scorched earth policy on one part of my lawn and used roundup. Which has failed abysmally.
Sign In or Register to comment.