Plant Doctor Archive

Moss in lawn

COULD you help with suggestions of what to use to rid our lawn of moss? It is particularly prevalent this year. In previous years, we have tried using Surrender and sulphate of iron, (separately, of course) with reasonable success. We aerate the lawn regularly and feed once or twice a year. But still the moss appears! Help.

MOSS in lawns is a really awful nuisance. The best thing to use is Yates Surrender, as you have in other years. Also, watch the amount of sun your lawn gets. Shade can increase the amount of moss. Thin or prune trees to let more light in.

Rake the lawn to bring the moss to the surface and you may be able to pick up the large amounts by hand and spray what is left.

Also watch the aeration of your lawn and the soil drainage. You may need to get a soil or lawn aerator to use on the lawn. These can be hired or purchased from garden centres and turf merchants.

Make sure that you fertilise in the spring and autumn also. If you wish, you can use Yates Mosskiller and Fertiliser for this job. Make sure that you water lawn fertilisers in well so that no burning occurs.

Reproduced with permission from the former Weekend Gardener magazine. The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the RNZIH.