British Columbia: Lawns & Moss Removal

Spring 2012 arrives along with lawn moss. Please offer steps to lime, fertilize etc and in what sequence to remove moss efficiently.

 

The only "solution" is to remove whatever is casting the shade IMO. Then apply some soil improvements. Otherwise it's a bit like pushing a peanut up a hill with your nose...as they say. In general terms, moss thrives on shade & lawn grasses (even the "shade" ones) thrive on sun. One of my neighbours runs a lawn service & is in love with temporarily removing &/or poisoning moss, I think it pays his mortgage & feeds his kids every spring.

On the Wet Coast, I have learned to love my inner bryophyte.

 

I believe the theory is that moss grows in a certain ph (acidity) level. Lime will help control moss but fetilizing has just the opposite effect. In my experience raking out as much of the moss as you can and then liming early in the year will help control it, but is not a something that will rid you of the problem. Then when fertilizing, try and reduce the rate you apply it in the mossy area. Aeration will help to some degree also by allowing the soil moisture to perculate down at a faster rate. One book I read on lawn care offered the adage that your soil should contain 1/3 air, 1/3 moisture, 1/3 soil. Some thing else that also might help is controlling the amount of water that you put down if you are watering the area. I have had some degree of success with commercial moss killers, but after using you have to again rake out the thatch (dead moss) to allow the grass to grow normally. All in all, ridding yourself of a moss patch isn't easy even here in Spokane that gets a lot less rain than you do. But if after all of the above you might even try some french drains (abs with holes along its length) to drain water from the area. In truth my experience is that any of the above helps, and if you keep at it the mossy area will at the very least be greatly reduced.

 

Well it is interesting to that you say remove what causes shade, the moss in my garden grows in the the sunniest spot (it gets sun all day) and it is on quite a slope.
So I have decided to go with the flow and do nothing about it, it is green all year even in the summer when it is dry and it is soft under foot. However I would like to contain the area, so I will try the remedies suggested.

 

My experience with moss seems to be the opposite of wrygrass2's. I've found that fertilizing after raking out the loose moss was very effective; and this was in north Burnaby, which is a lot wetter than Pemberton. The theory is that the fertilizer helps the grass to grow quickly and shade out the remaining moss, which then dies out. It seems to work for me. Liming did not do anything, but that might be because I llime regularly anyway because it is fruit trees that are making this a shady area. I guess the message is to experiment and find out what works in your area.

 

I agree with vitog, sometimes just getting the grass to grow better than the moss or weeds or what have you is the answer. Also to that end, once you raked up the loose moss a little overseeding of new grass seed might be in order too.