Moss

nosmo-king

Any good cheap ways to remove moss from tarmac driveway ?

CJhaughey

Granular chlorine or pool chlorine.
wet area, apply small amount of granules, and work in with a stiff brush, leave for an hour or so and rinse off.

blackbox

Ferrrous sulphate (sulphate of iron - cheap, non toxic, available at garden centres)

Dissolve in water. On a dry day sprinkle on using a fine rose on watering can.

Avoid concrete - may leave rust stains.

This kills the moss (turns dark brown), but you still have to scrape/brush it off.

Irish Gardener

Keep sulphate of iron well away from all solid areas of the garden, eg. patios, kerbs, tarmac, cars etc.
So don't not attempt to spray or spread sulphate of iron onto tarmacadam unless you want your blacktop to become browntop.
It will leave a stain similar to that which a piece of rusty metal would leave if left on the tarmac for a few months.

The two most environmentally friendly ways to reduce or prevent moss growth on tarmac are...

1. Allow access to plenty of sunlight (cut back plants where possible).

2. Brush the tarmac regularly with a stiff brush to prevent any growths getting a foothold.

The chlorine mentioned by CJhaughey is really effective, you will see the moss browing within minutes, however, you will still have to scrape or brush it away though.
There is no real wonder solution out there that does not involve some manual labour.
Also be careful if using chlorine or bleach to attack moss, because if you track any of this indoors it will remove the colour from your carpets with every footfall.

Hygeia chemicals in Galway supply a water-on/spray-on product known as "Mossgo" to garden centres and hardware stores, this is a bit slower acting, but also effective.

moceri

I use Jeyes Fluid diluted and sprayed on or applied with a watering can. Usually available in most DIY or Hardware Stores. Apply in Dry weather and brush away when the moss is dead after a week or so. Will not stain.

CJhaughey

moceri wrote: »

I use Jeyes Fluid diluted and sprayed on or applied with a watering can. Will not stain.

Jeyes fluid will dissolve tarmac because it is a coal tar derivative.
I would not recommend using this, you will eventually dissolve the driveway!

10-10-20

Did they not ban coal-tar products in stages over the last 10 years, with Jeyes fluid coal-tar-less now?

CJhaughey

According to the MSDS it still contains 10-30% tar acids, not sure if it is coal tar or other tar but it will still dissolve tarmac.....