Beat the moss with Johnsons Lawn Seed
The wettest March on record and subsequent rainfall over recent weeks have seen the UK’s lawns covered with spongy green moss and weeds. A combination of shade and wet soil conditions creates the perfect environment for moss to spore in patchy or exposed areas of your lawn, but Johnsons Lawn Seed has the solution for how to fight moss after it makes itself at home in your garden.
Moss thrives in moist, shady situations on compacted soil and will remain unless you change the lawn environment. If not dealt with, it can form a thick layer in your lawn that will choke out your grass, taking the vital water and nutrients that your grass needs in the hotter weather to prevent the shallow roots suffering lasting damage.
Moss be gone
Keeping a nice, dense stand of grass will keep moss at bay. Scarifying removes moss and thatch from a lawn, so that water and fertiliser can reach the roots where they are most needed for healthy growth.
Scarifying a lawn should be done in small sections at a time with a rake. By doing so, you'll be able to figure out which areas have been completed and which still need attention. Grab the rake and pull it toward you, lifting the debris from the grass, and tugging lightly into the thatch or moss. It is important not to rake roughly, as this can damage healthy grass and soil. Repeat the same area several times in one direction, then repeat the process on the next area of the lawn until you have scarified the entire lawn.
Moss likes damp conditions so it’s important to address drainage issues. Aerating – basically a fancy word for spiking a lawn – allows air, water, and nutrients to penetrate deep into the root zone. As moss often grows in compacted, wet areas, aeration will loosen the soil and also promotes hearty grass roots to grow deeply, which produces a stronger lawn and assists with drainage and moss prevention during rainy spells.
Johnsons’ sister company Neudorff offers the ultimate natural moss prevention solution in Neudorff’s Organic CleanLawn Moss Control for Lawns. It combats moss and is environmentally friendly with its active ingredient pelargonic acid, which is naturally derived from plants. This guarantees fast visible results without harming your lawn, turning moss brown, so it can easily be scarified. It works even at low temperatures and is both child and pet safe, meaning summer play weekends can still carry on.
Life after moss
The final step is to over-seed the lawn after the moss has been banished. This involves introducing new, healthy grass plants to fill in the gaps left by the moss that has been removed. Johnsons Lawn Seed’s specially formulated seed mixtures boost grass health, ensuring it looks great all year round.
Acidic lawn conditions will encourage moss to grow, so the calcium carbonate in Johnson's After Moss will raise the pH of the soil, helping to keep the patches free. The deep-rooted dwarf perennial ryegrass mix will keep the patches green with strong, even coverage. Tuffgrass with Patch Resistance delivers exceptionally healthy lawns, along with moss and weed control, without impacting your environment. With grasses that offer better resistance to dog urine than others, it provides good green cover and weed control, whilst withstanding substantial wear and tear.
Johnsons Lawn Thickener with Seedbooster® is also ideal to keep moss at bay and guarantees 30% more grass growth than uncoated grass seed. The innovative Seedbooster® means each seed is wrapped in its own parcel of fast and slow-release fertiliser, meaning the seed germinates sooner and establishes faster. The coating also acts as a harmless deterrent to birds.
Neudorff’s Organic CleanLawn consists of 100 % natural ingredients. Besides the important main and trace elements it contains a unique combination of naturally occurring mycorrhiza fungi and soil-revitalising micro-organisms that ensures particularly strong and healthy roots and plants naturally suppressing moss and weeds.
Find out more
Whether you want fast-growing grass seed, a luxury lawn, a hard-wearing lawn for children and pets, or a lawn that will grow in the shade, Johnsons Lawn Seed can help grow the lawn that suits your needs. To see the different range of seed mixes, please visit the website at: