Follow these tips to get rid of Moss in your lawn and prevent it from coming back.
What Is Moss
Contrary to what many believe, Moss in not a fungus. Instead, it is a unique plant that doesn’t flower and doesn’t have a root system. Moss isn’t harmful, and won’t damage your lawn, but it will take over lawn areas that are damp, bare, and overall poorly managed.
What Causes Moss
Spores can initially enter your lawn through the air, but they will take hold and start spreading only if conditions are right: Excessive shade and moisture, compacted soil, excessive thatch, low pH, and an overall underfed/poorly managed lawn can be some of the causes of your moss problems.
How to Get Rid of Moss
The trick to getting rid of moss is to fix the negative conditions above that caused it. Diagnose which of the conditions (and there’s probably more then one) are the cause, and then you can focus on the correction.
1. Remove Existing Moss
It’s important to point out that if you already have moss in your lawn, improving the environmental conditions in your lawn most likely wont get rid of the existing moss. Once moss is there it can adapt to a wide range of conditions. So consider your first step to be manually removing moss. This can be done with a regular spring rake, or a metal garden rake. You could also rent or purchase a machine such as a SunJoe or other type of dethatcher to scrape along the surface of the soil, breaking up moss. It’s ok if you don’t get it all, but knocking it back substantially will pay off.
You could also use moss killer products such as Scotts Mossex. You’ll most likely still have to rake the dead moss out once the killer does its job, but it’ll be less labor intensive, especially if you do repeat applications which is recommended.
2. Pruning
Pruning trees and shrubs to let in more sunlight is a great place to start if you think shade and/or damp soil is a problem.
3. Core Aeration
If you have compacted soil, core aeration will help let in much needed air flow, and allow for better nutrient and water penetration. If you want to go the next level, top dress the freshly core aerated lawn with a 1/4” layer of quality loam/compost mix. This will greatly improve soil drainage and provide nutrients to your lawn.
4. Dethatching
If you have a thatch problem, your lawn won’t be able to take in nutrients, even if you are feeding your lawn regularly. Renting a scarifier to dig deep into the top portion of your lawn where the thatch layer is will fix the problem.
5. Check and Adjust pH
In general, moss like acidic soil. Take a soil test to see if your soil is acidic. Adding lime will help improve conditions. But, it’s important to point out, even though moss prefers more acidic soil, it can still grow in lawns with a higher pH. While increasing pH is helpful, you’ll need to combine this strategy with other strategies to successfully get rid of moss and prevent it from coming back.
6. Install the Right Grass Type
If you’re seeing moss in shady, damp areas, it could be that you have grass that prefers full sun such as Kentucky Blue Grass in that area. Install a grass type that does well in shade such as Fine Fescue.
7. Feed Your Lawn
Maybe your problem is just overall neglect. If you’re not regularly feeding your lawn using a good lawn program then you’re not giving your lawn a chance to thrive. As it struggles and thins out, it’s an open invitation for moss and weeds. So many lawn problems can be fixed by just sticking to a good lawn program!
Combined Moss Removal Strategy
If you have a really bad moss problem, it’s best to combine several strategies to improve the conditions in your lawn. I have turned so many moss lawns around by using this 4 step process:
Step 1. Remove moss by raking it out. This can be done with a normal leaf rake or you can rent or purchase a power raker. Actually the Sunjoe is a great piece of equipment to invest in. You can also use a moss killer 2 weeks before raking to make it easier to remove the moss.
Step 2. Core aerate your lawn. This is going to improve air flow and drainage.
Step 3. Top dress your lawn link with a thin layer of quality loam with compost. The quality loam will get into the voids left behind from core aerating and will build soil health and reduce compaction. Spread a thin layer (1/4”) over the whole surface.
Step 4. Overseed and Fertilize. Overseed the area with a quality seed, and consider using fine fescue if the area is in deep shade. Also apply a slow release fertilizer such as Milorganite 6-4-0. After the new seed is established and you mowed it for the first time, apply a Starter Fertilizer.
Continue to stick to a good lawn program and keep the grass healthy and you should be able to prevent future moss problems.
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Darren says
Thanks for this…. Also just a tip, there’s a product called quicksilver that works pretty well on moss while not harming cool season grasses. It may not be practical for the average homeowner due to its price but I use it on my lawn in the shady areas where moss sometimes appears.
Mark says
That’s great to know Darren, thanks for the recommendation!