Removing Moss From Your Lawn And Keeping Your Lawn Healthy
You need to get your lawn healthy again and then keep up a regular lawn maintenance program. Moss loves acidic soil so you need to get the soil alkaline again. First you need to do is cut the lawn to 2 to 2.5 inches. Then you will need to dethatch it, you can rent a dethacher (power rake) or buy a dethatcher attachment blade that goes on your mower, these work pretty good. Dethatching will remove some of the moss. If you use a moss killer and you have a lot of moss it could get unsightly when the moss dies because it will turn black. After it has died you should dethatched again to remove the dead moss and you may have to spread a thin layer of topsoil and seed the area. If there isn't too much moss you shouldn't need to top dress. You also should aerate the lawn with an aerator and apply lime before you top dress. (Lime may burn the seedlings). Aerating helps air, moisture and nutrients (fertilizer) get to the root system of the lawn more easily. Applying lime to the lawn to return the soil back to being alkaline which the grass loves and moss does not like. This is the time of year that liming is done and should be done every spring, and doing this will keep the moss in check. Then around early June you should fertilize the lawn. You can use a Weed and Feed, this will get rid of the weeds and fertilize at the same time, and most garden centers will have the correct weed and feed fertilizer to use for this time of year. Or you could use the weed killer and fertilize separately. At one time it was thought that lawn should be fertilized up to 5 times a year. Now the experts say it is only necessary to fertilize three times a year. The times it should be done are in mid fall (mid Sept) using a quick release high potassium fertilizer, the next one is in late fall (Oct-Nov) using a slow release, high nitrogen fertilizer, this application replaces the early spring fertilizing. The other time to fertilize is in the early summer (early June) with a quick release, low nitrogen. Most garden centers sell the proper lawn fertilizer for the time of the year that you will be fertilizing your lawn whether you need the quick release high potassium, quick release low nitrogen, or slow release high nitrogen. So don't forget to lime to keep the moss at bay, and keep up a lawn maintenance program. A healthy lawn is a happy lawn and will keep the weeds and moss in check.
The Steps.
Mow
Dethatch
Apply Moss Killer
Dethatch Again
Aerate
Lime
Top Dress if Necessary
Fertilize
Just remember the following.
Remember the Conditions For Moss:
Poor soil aeration.
Poor drainage.
Low fertility.
High acidity.
Heavy shade
Remember To prevent moss
Improve soil aeration.
Improve drainage.
Increase light (sun) by pruning tree branches etc.
Fertilize lawn.
Apply Lime in spring to increase PH (eliminate acidity).
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