# How to remove moss?



## II Weeks (Jan 6, 2009)

I live on Long Island and every year my most of my lawn is over run with moss. So every spring I hire a lawn guy to power rake and aerate the lawn and he just finished. So now my lawn has part grass, still some moss here and there and dirt so what do I do next to have a good lawn?

Do I add lime in powder form or pellets or something else?


Thanks in advance


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## gma2rjc (Nov 21, 2008)

I don't know if this will help, but here are a few things I've learned lately about getting rid of moss.

It will need some or all of these conditions to grow: soil that is always wet, is compacted and has poor drainage, in medium to dense shade, is very acidic and has low fertility. It grows best in areas where the grass has been worn away, just never grows-in or the lawn mower blade cuts down to the soil. 

Just aerating the soil probaly won't do the trick if it hasn't fixed the problem in the past years. If you haven't already, get your soil pH tested first. Would your lawn guy know what nutrients to add and how to fix the pH? Fix any of the other conditions in your yard that are helping the moss to grow (shade, bare spots, drainage). If you just kill the moss and don't change anything else, it will come back.


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## Bob Mariani (Dec 1, 2008)

The sell a moss killer in any garden center. Will not harm the lawn. Also helps to add lime, grass likes it, moss does not.


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## Kap (Jun 20, 2008)

FYI on soil testing-contact your local ag extension or community college if they have an ag dept. You can usually get a soil test done for ten bucks, and it will include a complete report of what you need to do.


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## gma2rjc (Nov 21, 2008)

> The sell a moss killer in any garden center. Will not harm the lawn. Also helps to add lime, grass likes it, moss does not.


Or, if there isn't a lot of it, it's cheaper to just scrape it off the soil with a flat shovel. But remember---


> If you just kill the moss and don't change anything else, it will come back.


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## Kap (Jun 20, 2008)

Here ya go:

http://hort.cals.cornell.edu/cals/hort/extension/index.cfm
http://hort.cals.cornell.edu/cals/hort/extension/publications.cfm


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## II Weeks (Jan 6, 2009)

thanks all. I'm going to buy that soil test kit ans sample some areas and shade night be a major problem. I never noticed a drainage problem. There are some branches I can trim away. I'll let you know what the soil test comes back with


Thanks again


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## Dugger52 (Mar 26, 2009)

Zinc sulfate is the active ingrediant in moss killers. You need the soil test, it's not always acidic but that a good starting point. Once you get it e-mail to me and I'll read it for you and give you a recommendation. Then, just so you have peace of mind, you can have somebody up there double check me. You're probably looking at a three year project. Nothing complicated other than time.


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