Living with Moss . . I surrender.

jesse pinkman

It used to annoy the head off me, however the never ending battles are to be no more, I've lost so maybe its about time to admit defeat & accept that the moss is here to stay!

And you know what? I think I like it that way.

Its softer & more cushioning beneath the feet, like a big moss-green carpet, much more bouncy for the kids to run around-on, less time consuming & a lot less expensive to maintain than the fairway type lawn I once craved & it seems to thrive particularly well when just left alone in our temperate Irish climate.

The only major drawback I have with it, is the way the escape chute on the lawnmower keeps getting blocked with the stuff.

But for me now anyway, moss is the new grass . .Long live the moss!

lazybones32

Quitters never win...enjoy your yellow lawn in Winter.

jesse pinkman

lazybones32 wrote: »

Quitters never win...enjoy your yellow lawn in Winter.

Thats Ok, I don't mind that either . . I'm colourblind.

Glebee

jesse pinkman wrote: »

It used to annoy the head off me, however the never ending battles are to be no more, I've lost so maybe its about time to admit defeat & accept that the moss is here to stay!

And you know what? I think I like it that way.

Its softer & more cushioning beneath the feet, like a big moss-green carpet, much more bouncy for the kids to run around-on, less time consuming & a lot less expensive to maintain than the fairway type lawn I once craved & it seems to thrive particularly well when just left alone in our temperate Irish climate.

The only major drawback I have with it, is the way the escape chute on the lawnmower keeps getting blocked with the stuff.

But for me now anyway, moss is the new grass . .Long live the moss!

I like your thinking..

fryup

i've given up as well

i've thrown everything under the sun at it now, and the moss keeps returning with a vengeance:(

Ambersky

For the love of moss check out this link
http://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=moss%20garden&rs=ac&len=4

Gairdin nua

Just been on the open garden day here in Kerry and noticed moss in some gardens and not in others and the upshot from my consequent research seems to be the soil Ph needs to be 6 to 7.5, sunlight and drainage need to be corrected but if you are quitting you dont need to bother with this.

Zardoz

I had a bad infestation of moss in the lawn and finally I said enough was enough at the start of April.

Out came the Aldi scarifier and I scarified the lawn with 3 passes at 30 degrees to each other.
I took about 37 wheelbarrow loads of moss and thatch off the lawn .
I then sprayed the lawn the following day with iron of sulphate solution ,~450g per 100sqm to kill off the rest of the moss .
I then put down some 7:6:17 fertiliser and left nature do the rest.

The lawn was looking great after about a month ,no more moss and much better lusher grass.
I removed any remaining blackened moss manually with a rake and put down a bit more fertiliser in these areas.
Alot of work ,took me 20 hours in total but definitely worth it .

stimpson

I use stuff called Mo Bacter. It kills off the moss by raising the phosphate levels. The dead moss is then broken down by bacteria and feeds your grass. No raking, no black crap and 100% organic.

pwurple

I much prefer a moss lawn to a grass lawn. Good for you OP!

Gairdin nua

Some years ago I was in Japan and was very taken by the moss gardens which look so soft and beautiful, complete moss on trees and rocks with no blade of grass in sight. I thought it was a great low maintenance idea till I spoke to a Japanese colleague who assured me that it is very highh maintenance and sure enough when I went for an early morning walk the next day I noticed an army of women gardeners on their knees tending it like over would a precious flower and of course ot is all partof the Japanese concept of perfection. Come 8am the women duly dissapeared as the tourists and public were coming out and part of the concept of perfection for them is that you are lead to believe it all just happens on its own.

alchemist33

stimpson wrote: »

I use stuff called Mo Bacter. It kills off the moss by raising the phosphate levels. The dead moss is then broken down by bacteria and feeds your grass. No raking, no black crap and 100% organic.

Interesting. I'll look it up.

I love moss!

From an ornamental perspective I think moss is much nicer than lawn grass (lawn grass as opposed to grasses that have been let run wild and grow tall). From a functional perspective though, surely a moss lawn is quite slippy and holds a lot of moisture?

Oldtree

never worried about it myself. I originally sowed a dwarf grass onto the level ground and left it to get on, now the lawn has all kinds of plants growing in it, as well as moss and the grass, and I think they have adapted to being mowed every week or so as they flower if I leave it for any longer. Really dislike the black patches in some lawn where they are fruitlessly killing the moss year on year on year :rolleyes: afaic Ive got a nice level green area, soft underfoot, chemical free.

magicbastarder

i have a problem with moss in the lawn, but i strongly suspect the solution is not to kill the moss (if i wanted rid of it), i probably would need to tackle the soil.

Gairdin nua

true-or-false wrote: »

I love moss!

From an ornamental perspective I think moss is much nicer than lawn grass (lawn grass as opposed to grasses that have been let run wild and grow tall). From a functional perspective though, surely a moss lawn is quite slippy and holds a lot of moisture?

I suspect the idea is that you do not walk on it. There are usually nice gravel pathways through it that you walk and it's to be admired. I remember there is a relative shortage of land there given the comparative densely populated ratio, grass is for aesthetic purposes and there is an understanding that one does not walk across grass lawns although they are far less common than we are used to in Europe.

celticbhoy27

true-or-false wrote: »

I love moss!

From an ornamental perspective I think moss is much nicer than lawn grass (lawn grass as opposed to grasses that have been let run wild and grow tall). From a functional perspective though, surely a moss lawn is quite slippy and holds a lot of moisture?

False?

Oldtree

magicbastarder wrote: »

i have a problem with moss in the lawn, but i strongly suspect the solution is not to kill the moss (if i wanted rid of it), i probably would need to tackle the soil.

TBH I don't think there is any way of getting away from moss in out damp climate, it just thrives here.

GG66

From the link posted above to growing moss gardens

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Let's dispel the following misconceptions about moss.

"Moss needs to have acid soil."
Nope. It also grows on neutral or alkaline soil.

"Moss requires poor, compacted soil."
Not really. It tolerates it but likes good soil too.

"Moss grows only in shade."
No. Most mosses prefer shade, but some will grow in sun.

"Moss needs lots of water."
Not true. Although moss grows faster with regular moisture, it tolerates drought quite well—better than grass does. In dry weather, it will go dormant and then revive when water comes.

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So it seems Moss is just better adapted to our climate and will thrive where grass doesn't. Seems like we're just fighting nature rather than working with it