The Irish Gardener Peter Dowdall shared five of the most common questions he is getting from people right now and below he shares his top tips to avoid making simple mistakes
Liam McInerney Content Editor
06:00, 08 May 2026
The Irish Gardener Peter Dowdall (Image: )
For a lot of people, the return of nicer weather means one thing: How are we going to get our gardens into shape ahead of summer?
Unfortunately, not all of us are experts, and it is common to make gardening mistakes when it comes to things like moss removal or trying to make your outside area more aesthetically pleasing.
Now though, expert Peter Dowdell, also known as The Irish Gardener, has spoken about the most common mistakes he sees this time of year, and how best to avoid them.
1. Getting rid of moss
Peter, who has worked on Irish gardens for 30 years, said the most common question he gets is: “How do I get rid of moss on the lawn?”
But before offering the solution, he warned: “What I do like to avoid, most moss killing or moss treatment products that you get in garden centres are based on sulphate iron.
Scarifying lawn(Image: Getty Images)
“I don’t like to use sulfated iron in the treatment of moss because of what it does. It does turn the moss black and kills it, but it works by acidifying the soil so it decreases the PH of the soil, and what that does is it creates the ideal conditions for moss to come back because moss likes a low PH.”
As for what you should do, if indeed moss removal is so important to you, he said: “First of all you scarify the lawn, which is really like a mechanical rake, it is just physically removing the moss and the patch from the surface of the lawn.
“Once you have done that then, you try and improve the soil structure by erasing it so erasing it really is just creating many tiny tiny little holes in the top two inches of the soil and you can either leave those holes open or you can push grit or sand into them to help with drainage — this will certainly help.”
However, he said this would take hours if not days every year to keep on top of moss, which he explained was actually beneficial to the environment, although he does not judge those who wish to get rid of it.
Peter shares his vast experience on his website (Image: @the_irish_gardener/Instagram)
2. Summer bedding plants
With the sun shining, it is tempting to want a splash of colour in your gardens, but Peter said this always leads to the same mistake.
He recently told this reporter: “Run down to the garden centre, get lots and lots of summer bedding plants and put them out straight away. That’s a big mistake.”
He added: With the lovely blue sky days, at the moment, that does mean cold nights. So these plants wouldn’t be, they wouldn’t even be resistant to low temperatures. It wouldn’t have to be a frost or zero, even if it is down to two, three, or four, it is too cold for them.
“So a lot of these plants, all of these plants really, would have been grown in artificial conditions, in glass houses, in tunnels, and then you will be buying them in either centrally heated supermarkets or in a projected structure in a garden centre, so that’s why they look good, but they are not ready to go outside straight away.”
Peter Dowdall at the Chelsea Flower Show(Image: RSVP Live)
3. ‘Blanket bombing’
Speaking of garden centre trips, Peter also advised against buying what he believes could be a “best-selling product” that will actually “blanket bomb” your lawn.
He explained: “When it comes to the lawn, I would imagine that one of the best-selling products in garden centres at this time of year is what is called the triple action products – which are bags of lawn feed with the moss killer and the weed killer built in.
“They are very ecologically damaging. It is like blanket bombing your lawn. So, you are feeding the grass which is grand, but you are also applying chemical moss killers and chemical weed killers to the lawn, many in areas that don’t need it. They don’t have weeds or moss – so you are just blanket bombing it.”
He said that this had a huge ecological disadvantage and that applying chemicals to large parts of your lawn that may not need it can be dangerous — especially if you have kids who will roll in the grass.
He shared his top tips with us (Image: @the_irish_gardener/Instagram)
4. Slug pellets
As we know, slugs and snails can cause havoc in your gardens at this time of year. The pests can destroy plants and crops and may also wipe out harvests by consuming fruit.
However, Peter claimed there was a “secret weapon” you can get in most garden centres to combat the problem.
He said slugs and snails were “the most common garden problem right now” and the expert added: “A lot of people just go straight for slug pellets which I’m not a huge fan of because of ecological reasons.
“There is a secret weapon if you like against slugs and snails which not a lot of people are aware of and that’s sheep’s wool. There are pellets available made from sheep’s wool which are perfect barrier products.”
These pellets are placed around the plants you want to keep safe and they create a barrier that slugs can’t reach over.
Slugs are another unwanted pest that can destroy gardens (Image: Tomas Vynikal via Getty Images)
Peter went on: “It keeps the plant safe, it doesn’t kill the slugs, but that’s important too because slugs are food for hedgehogs and birds. It’s all about the natural balance if you like, creating the natural balance just means that by maintaining a good diversity of species in the garden, you prevent the unnatural building of any one.
“So, sheep wool is a nice hidden weapon people aren’t aware of and they are available through most garden centres as well.”
They can cost up to €22.50 in Ireland and they are made from wool that would otherwise go to waste.
5. Rats
We all want to know the best ways to keep rats out, but Peter did not shy away from the truth, and said the rodents were “probably in 100% of gardens”.
Rats are in “100% of gardens” according to Peter (Image: Ian_Redding via Getty Images)
He said there was no “miracle” solution and that rats come out at night when it is quiet and they are not seen.
As for common mistakes to avoid, he said: “It is all about making sure you are not giving them a reason to stay in your garden, that you are not giving them a reason to nest, it comes down to a lot of hygiene really.”
Peter continued: “Never throw cooked food waste into an open compost bin because that will draw rats.
“If you give them a food source, a water source, and somewhere safe to nest, then they will stay, so it is all about cleanliness in the garden really in terms of hygiene.
“Not leaving stuff that would be attracted to rats and nesting sites and food sources. If you can make sure you are not leaving them in the garden, then that’s as much as you can do really against rats.”
For more practical garden advice, see Peter Dowdall’s Garden Q&A
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