If you wish to maintain your lawn’s health, it is vitally important to eliminate any moss developing among the grass. Moss can dominate a lawn in springtime, when everything is just starting to grow again, preventing nutrients and sunlight from reaching the soil.
Philip Voice, a lawn expert and founder of Landscape Juice, said: “Sunlight is essential for photosynthesis to take place, and if your grass has to work too hard, it will weaken and non-desirable grass species, as well as moss, can start to colonise the surface of your lawn.” Moss can only flourish in a damp and dark environment, which means if you have a mossy lawn, it is a sign of waterlogged soil that cannot drain adequately. If you wish to cultivate a thick, green lawn without moss, you need to aerate and scarify the lawn to prevent compacted soil.
Phillip said: “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, keep your root zone in good condition, improve overall growing conditions, and your grass will grow strongly, making it impossible for moss and weeds to compete.”
Nevertheless, if you are confident your garden soil is in good condition, then your lawn may simply need a nutrient boost, and you can easily enhance its health with just one item.
Phillip said: “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 is a compound that helps lower soil pH, making it less acidic and preventing moss from growing on a lawn.
Iron rapidly extracts moisture from moss, eliminating it, but it is also highly advantageous to grass, boosting chlorophyll production so the lawn stores more energy.
Feeding your lawn with iron sulphate will also turn the grass green, as yellow, patchy grass is typically caused by an iron deficiency.
Phillip said: “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.”
All you need to do is feed your lawn iron sulphate the day following rainfall, as the moisture will dissolve it. However, avoid a windy day, as it can blow the iron sulphate onto your other plants.
This is a straightforward method to eliminate moss and help maintain a healthy lawn, so you will have a lush, vibrant-looking lawn for the remainder of spring and summer.
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