Gardening help. Moss!

[enuff_zed]

Paint it silver and tell everyone it's Stirling Moss.

Yes I do know it's spelt differently.

 

[obewan]

And don't cut it too short as that will allow the moss to grow even more

This and reduces burning in summer

The house we stayed in Nidderdale last year had the lushest of lawns, it was kept at a constant height by a robot lawnmower, just skimming the top off and allowing the mulch to decay in the lawn, no moss at all

I would have purchased one as soon as I got home but he who shall not be named wants those damned stripes

I just want an easier life

I was at a robotic mower demo recently (volunteer club groundsman) and the new ones have updated software that will cut stripes/diagonals/chequerboard patterns

Re moss Pondrew, as others have said: treat, scarify, cut, aerate. Repeat

 

[jock156]

EZ! You ain’t wired up right!

 

[enuff_zed]

EZ! You ain’t wired up right!

I’m doing my best.
Wibble!

 

[IRD]

I've seen your grass, don't forget, Ian. Both back and front look like bowling greens. Makes me sick! :lol: :lol:

Bowling greens is a bit of an exaggeration to say the least. But when we moved in twenty years ago the grass was awful. My father in law was convinced that the only solution was to excavate and start again. We just persevered with improving the drainage, moss killer and feeding. I bought a hollow tine aerator to pull behind the ride on mower and gradually things improved. The trouble is it isn’t a one off job where you do it and that’s it. It is a continuous process and does take a fair amount of time each year to keep it right. Plus the cost of the relevant chemicals.
I’m not a keen gardener but don’t mind keeping the lawns decent. Then everything looks tidy.
Your biggest problems are poor drainage and insufficient sunlight to some parts of your lawn. You need to consider what you can do to improve those things first. If you don’t solve these problems to some degree you will be wasting your time, effort and money. The moss will just keep coming back.

I would just move house but the Duchess isn't having any of it, unfortunately. :roll:

I think she’s got you well and truly sized up!

 

[john-e89]

Bowling greens is a bit of an exaggeration to say the least. But when we moved in twenty years ago the grass was awful. My father in law was convinced that the only solution was to excavate and start again. We just persevered with improving the drainage, moss killer and feeding. I bought a hollow tine aerator to pull behind the ride on mower and gradually things improved. The trouble is it isn’t a one off job where you do it and that’s it. It is a continuous process and does take a fair amount of time each year to keep it right. Plus the cost of the relevant chemicals.
I’m not a keen gardener but don’t mind keeping the lawns decent. Then everything looks tidy.
Your biggest problems are poor drainage and insufficient sunlight to some parts of your lawn. You need to consider what you can do to improve those things first. If you don’t solve these problems to some degree you will be wasting your time, effort and money. The moss will just keep coming back.

I would just move house but the Duchess isn't having any of it, unfortunately. :roll:

I think she’s got you well and truly sized up!

 

[ekimj10]

A good quality lawn is IMO the most difficult to achieve in any garden, I've spent a lot over the years on motorised scarifiers, wheeled sprayers, hollow tine forks, chemicals for weeding, feeding etc not forgetting ant killers. Gave all that up and now have a company visit 4 or 5 times a year to do all the treatments (no scarifying or aeration etc) for around £50 per visit, we do all the cutting and edging. Cost of the chemicals alone was way more than £200 and they do it quickly but best of all know what the lawn needs.
Despite all this, moss still grows and thatching is always there unless you rake out/scarify to remove all the dead stuff. Fortunately the back lawn is a good driving range and football practice area plus pool and trampoline in the warmers climes.
Everything is against you having a perfect lawn, kids, cats, dogs and all wild animals (foxes, squirrels, pigeons etc and we have them) plus the weather, trees etc but at the end of the day we all seem to to want to have a go.
No wonder 'fake grass' (grand kids terminology) is so popular, I priced up the showpiece at the front and the cost with all the excavation and preparation was similar to having the area professionally paved.
No answers on the best way forward I'm afraid but best of luck whichever way you go.

 

[TitanTim]

I looked at fake grass before gravelling it all and it seemed to me to need a fair bit of maintenance in its own right, hosing down etc to keep it looking good otherwise it will look rubbish after time especially if you have trees etc.

Tim.

 

[ARCS]

When I did have grass, it was absolutely covered in moss. I used a company called green thumb and they used to come round quarterly and put stuff down on it. Never had any moss in it for years. Got rid of all the grass a few years ago as both the kids have their own cars now.

 

[Nanu]

The only way is to let the lawn dry out, hire or lend a tool the fits onto your mower and rake out the moss which will leave your lawn looking horrific.

Re seed in areas that are left bare and top dress the lawn.

Repeat every spring.

 

[MikeyH]

Bloke next to us got rid of everything green, put down loads of gravel, looks bloody awful, like a quarry from hell

 

[TitanTim]

Bloke next to us got rid of everything green, put down loads of gravel, looks bloody awful, like a quarry from hell

Mind you, he's probably doing something more interesting than mowing :lol:

Tim.

 

[Pondrew]

Bloke next to us got rid of everything green, put down loads of gravel, looks bloody awful, like a quarry from hell

My front garden is 450m2. If I put gravel on that lot, I fear the natives would turn up with their deck chairs in the Summer.

I am getting used to the moss, at least it looks green year-round (and grows slowly so less mowing)!

 

[ekimj10]

TitanTim referred to the maintenance of fake grass and he is absolutely right, we have trees surrounding the back lawn and one is an old oak tree which throughout the year is shedding something, the worst being sticky bits off the acorns. There is no way that the can all be cleaned off, we have powerful Honda rotary mower and that doesn't pick them up.
I see you can buy vacuum cleaners just for fake lawns! the only positive side is they are probably quieter than most petrol mowers and Sunday afternoons should be more peaceful.

 

[Ole gits rule]

Need advice from any keen gardeners please.
My front lawn is being taken over by moss. This year it's so bad there are big areas with no grass left at all. I don't really know how best to tackle it and keep it away. We also get multiple Red Ant nests in the front lawn each Spring/ Summer which look like mole hills when mowed. I have absolutely no idea how or if I can deal with these.

I am thinking of drastic action if there is no other easy solution; That is spraying the whole lot with strong weedkiller then getting tonnes of top soil and starting again.

The yellowy/ brown areas in the photo are all just moss now.
IMG_9347.JPG

Been looking at this as I have the same issue - I am not a gardener by any means, but I do like the lawns to look decent but 3 to 4 hours cutting each weekend is a bind, SWMBO wont let me put down gravel as we already have a drive for about 10 cars

Mo bactor is the way to go - there is a guy on you tube showing how to prep (scarify) and use it, supposed to be really good, doesn't leave big black patches.

https://www.rhs.org.uk/lawns/moss-on-lawns

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SX0Dp9mcDso

 

[MikeyH]

I don’t think it helps cutting the grass too close as this allows other plants and weeds to grow. Most of our lawn is made up with dandelion and other weeds but at least it looks green. :roll: