How To Remove Moss From A Flower Bed Or Lawn?

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Moss often appears on lawns and flower beds. He delivers many unpleasant minutes to gardeners and summer residents, since it is not so easy to get rid of him. In addition, it is generally accepted that moss not only spoils the appearance of the decorative area, but also spoils the grass and flowers growing there. This is not entirely true. The appearance of moss can be considered an indicator of the beginning of damage to plants on a lawn or flower bed. Moss simply occupies areas vacated by dead plants. And after it is firmly settled on the site, the moss takes up nutrients and blocks the access to oxygen to plants on the lawn or flower bed, which leads to the death of lawn grass or flowers

Finding out the reason for the appearance of moss

Before deploying a full-scale operation to destroy moss, you need to find out the reason for its appearance. Moss is propagated by spores, but it is not enough just to get spores into the soil to germinate. You need a certain acidity and high soil moisture. By the way, they are the main reasons for the death of grass on the site. But the moss takes advantage of this, populates all the free space and conquers new territories for itself.

So, first of all, we check the acidity of the soil. Then we determine the humidity. Moss loves moist soils with high acidity. The next step is to check the shade of the area - the moss loves places in which there is little sunlight.

Ways to get rid of moss

First of all, take the time and study the materials on how plants growing in a flower bed or lawn tolerate alkaline soil. We already know that moss likes soil with high acidity, so we need to mix the soil in places with moss with lime. Carry out liming at least twice with a difference of a couple of weeks. After that, it is imperative to apply top dressing so that the plants develop better and faster and do not leave room for the moss.

Another method is to remove moss from the soil surface with garden tools. We take a rake with fine fine teeth and carefully process the areas with moss. Moss can be easily removed from the "familiar" place. Then we carefully loosen the soil. Lime can also be added after the moss has been removed. But if the plants constantly growing in this place do not like alkaline soil, then you should not risk it.

The third way is to dry the flower beds and lawns. If they are excessively moist, then the moss on them will actively root and multiply, growing for generations. Therefore, you need to solve the problem with excess moisture. Check the area, it is possible that you will have to make a drainage system to drain excess water. Sometimes it is enough to simply remove the shading or simply loosen the soil more often. But if the problem of wet land lies in groundwater, then only a drainage system will help.

The fourth method is chemical. You should not give up modern methods of dealing with unnecessary vegetation. For the treatment of the site, ammonium or iron sulfate, as well as glyphosate-containing phosphate, are suitable. The dosage is as follows: 20 liters of water - 90 ml of ferrous or copper sulfate.

Alternatively, you can dissolve 1 part baking soda to 10 parts water in water and treat the area. But this will have a short-term effect. I also recommend using a dishwashing liquid solution, but it also produces inconsistent results.

After getting rid of the moss, do not relax, believing that you have completely defeated it. It is necessary to regularly carry out preventive measures: check the acidity of the soil, loosen it, check the moisture and do not cut the lawn grass too low. This gives the moss access to oxygen and grows much faster.