Moss can create major problem on the lawns. Though it is green and soft to walk on, it usually dies out in the summers when the weather turns dry. It spreads fast in the lawn and chokes most of the lawn grass but fails to form a viable substitute due to its short life. Dried moss in the garden becomes a huge mess when it is scratched by the birds. Aside from this, weeds spread fast in the mossy areas.

The biggest reason for this menace is the poor compaction and the drainage in the garden soil leading to the starvation of garden grass, significant shade, mowing too close and acidic soil. There is a significant increase in the mossy area when there is a poor drainage because it tends to weaken the garden grass and encourages it to spread. If the main cause is not properly addressed, the moss being quite stubborn, may return back even when it is treated with the chemical killers.

Different ways to control the moss from spreading into your garden

Usually the lawns are considered as low maintenance areas of a garden. They can really be, if you are not interested in keeping them looking good. You need to follow some tips on ways to maintain your lawn in the best possible way to keep it in top condition.

1. Regular mowing

There can be serious problems when the lawn grass is cut too short or is kept too long between the cuts. You should try to cut your lawn grass as soon as it attains the height of about half an inch. If you have a large lawn, you can use a mechanical lawn mower but for the smaller lawns, manual mower is sufficient.

2. Proper feeding

Lawns should be fed in the early spring when they start picking up active growth. This is important to maintain the vigor and to leave no room for any mossy areas or weeds. You can use summer/spring lawn food. When the clippings are to be removed from the lawn, it is necessary to feed it throughout the season, every four to five weeks. The autumn food is specifically rich in the potash and phosphates and is quite low on the nitrogen so as to encourage the active root growth instead of the leaf growth.

3. Raking

Proper scarification of the lawn is essential. This involves raking of the grass in a vigorous way to remove all the dead matter that has accumulated since last season. You should use a mechanical scarifier for the bigger lawns or a spring-tine rake if you have smaller area. Scarifier gives a much better results than the rake and should be preferred wherever possible.

4. Aeration

Lawns usually can get compacted if there is a heavy flow of traffic from one area to another in the garden. This often leads to a poor soil drainage and can encourage the growth of the mossy areas in your lawn. Smaller lawns can be easily aerated by the insertion of garden fork into the lawn at uniform intervals. However, this will not be suitable for the bigger areas and therefore a manual push aerator will do a good job with speed. By using the aerator on the regular basis, your lawn will remain aerated and this will allow free flow of the nutrients and the water down to the the grass roots.

How to remove moss from your lawn

You can use the lawn sand to control the mossy growth in your lawn by applying it at any time during the year. Mercurised lawn sand has a longer effect as it can successfully kill the spores of this plant thereby preventing any new growth in the near future. Many liquid killers that contain tar acid are great for the control of the mossy areas in the lawn.

Once you have removed the mossy growth, you should rake the lawn in order to remove its remnants totally from your lawn as it will prevent its reoccurrence.