Eliminate Moss In Lawn? [Yes You Can]
If you are a lawn geek like me then it is your goal to have the most beautiful lush green lawn in your neighborhood and you will spend lots of time and money to achieve it.
I have had moss problems in the past and it is definitely a barrier to having the perfect lawn of your dreams.
In this article, I will tell you how to eliminate moss in your lawn so you can get closer to making your lawn the thing of perfection you are trying to achieve. There are lots of different things you can do to eliminate moss from your lawn and I will go over several ideas so that surely there will be one that you can use.
Loosely speaking the areas I will cover are :
- Why moss is growing in your lawn
- What you can use to eliminate moss
- How to keep it gone
I hope you do find this article useful and overcome your moss problem as I know how frustrating it can be trying to eliminate moss when you are trying to make the lawn of your dreams.
To eliminate moss in your lawn there are several options you can use. You can use a moss removal specific herbicide or a homemade solution where you mix vinegar, dish soap, or baking soda, with water, and spray it on the areas you want the moss eliminated from.
Check out my article on 15 things moss growing in your lawn indicates.
How To Eliminate Moss In Your Lawn?
If you have moss growing in your lawn then it suggests your lawn is not in the best condition for grass to grow.
If you have grass that is growing vibrant and healthy then it will be difficult for moss which is a weed to take over your lawn and thrive.
If you want to completely eliminate moss from your lawn then you really have to set about improving the condition of your lawn and soil because if you simply remove moss without improving the underlying reasons for moss growing then it will simply grow back when you remove it.
If you want to use a herbicide moss remover then that can definitely work and quickly, however, it will only be a short term solution as the moss will eventually grow back unless you change the condition of your lawn.
To improve the condition of your lawn and eliminate moss permanently you should have a routine to improve it, use aeration to improve the drainage and air circulation, use fertilizer to provide nutrients grass needs, and clear overhanging branches to reduce shade cover.
If you do all this work after you use a herbicide then you could definitely eliminate moss from your lawn but it does take work.
Will Lime Kill Moss?
It is a complete misconception that applying lime to your lawn will kill any moss that is growing on it.
Lime will not kill moss that is growing, however, what it will do is make the condition of your soil more ideal for your grass. When you have soil that is ideal for grass to grow it will make it more difficult for moss to grow as it only grows where the grass is weak and struggling.
When grass is growing somewhere that is not the ideal conditions it will more than likely be patchy and unhealthy, if your lawn becomes patchy and unhealthy that is when moss can move in and take over as it will grow into the patchy areas.
When you add lime to your lawn it will raise the pH level making it less acidic and more alkaline.
Altering the pH level to a level that is more suitable for grass will result in your grass becoming more fertile and virile and this is the best way to fight a moss problem, concentrate on making your grass as healthy and thriving as possible.
So lime can help you control moss but it will not directly kill moss as a herbicide would.
Check out my article on the best time of year to remove moss.
Does Baking Soda Kill Moss?
Baking soda is an excellent way to get rid of moss and you can use it everywhere whether that is a roof, path, wall, or lawn.
You can either sprinkle it on moss as a powder but it probably won’t take effect until it rains and the powder gets wet or alternatively you can mix it into the water and use it as a spray.
These are the steps I take when I use baking soda to kill moss in my lawn:
1. I add 3 heaped tablespoons of the baking soda to water and ass it to a spray jug.
2. I test the mixture on a small patch of lawn and leave it a couple of days. (This shouldn’t damage your grass but I am just paranoid in case I accidentally kill my whole lawn.)
3. Test complete, so I now spray the whole area that is affected by moss.
4. Roughly 3 days later I return and the moss should be brown at this time.
5. I now proceed to rake out all the dead moss as it looks kind of ugly having brown patches all over my lawn.
6. If there is any moss left growing I return to stage 3 and do it again until the moss is gone.
Will Vinegar Kill Lawn Moss?
Vinegar does do a really good job of killing moss but the only problem with it is that there is a high chance it will also kill the grass on your lawn.
If you decide to go down the road of using a vinegar mixture to kill moss on your lawn then it would probably be a good idea to test it on a small area first.
The best type of vinegar to use for killing moss is distilled white vinegar however apple cider vinegar will also do a good job when you use it to eliminate moss.
This is the process would go through when using a vinegar mixture to kill moss:
1. Mix in one or two tablespoons of vinegar into one gallon of cold water.
2. Put the vinegar mixture into a spray bottle as that just makes it easier to apply it.
3. Spray a test area until the moss is completely saturated.
4. Do this daily until the moss is eliminated.
5. If it doesn’t kill the moss you should add more vinegar to the mixture.
6. If the vinegar mixture kills grass you should completely abandon this idea.
7. Go back to step 3 and cover the whole area you want to get rid of the moss
Check out my article on what causes moss to grow?
Does Soapy Water Kill Moss?
If you don’t want to go through the backbreaking effort of simply raking any living moss out of your lawn then using a dish soap mixture could be a good solution.
This is a very popular way to eliminate moss from your lawn because everyone has dish soap in their homes and it is relatively cheap compared to an expensive herbicide that is designed specifically for moss removal.
The process of using soapy water to eliminate moss is as follows:
1. Mix 2 ounces of dish soap into one gallon of water and put it into a container with a spray nozzle.
2. Test the solution on a small patch of moss just incase your grass has an adverse reaction to the solution.
3. 24 hours after the test if the moss has died and your grass is fine you can go ahead and apply it to your lawn.
4. Soak any mossy areas with the soapy solution and give it 24 hours to take effect.
5. The dead moss should be orange or brown and you should rake all the dead moss up and dispose of it.
This is a powerful method for eliminating moss so you do have to make sure you do a test first as you don’t want to accidentally kill all the grass on your lawn.
What Kills Moss Naturally?
If you want to use natural methods to eliminate moss from your lawn it will take some time and effort but it is probably the best long term solution.
If you have moss growing on your lawn then it suggests your lawn is not in the best condition for grass to thrive so it’s time to work on your lawn to make it in ideal condition for grass.
You should cut back any trees that have overhanging branches as moss does well in shaded areas. Use a rake and rake out as much live moss as possible, this takes some effort but is a vital step.
Aerate your lawn as this will improve the drainage and air circulation and this will help make your grass thrive and fight back against moss.
When you mow your lawn you should use a mulching mower as adding organic material to your lawn should help your grass thrive and thriving grass is the best way to eliminate moss.
When you do all these things the condition of your grass should improve over time and the moss should reduce but it does take effort and is a long term solution.
Check out my full article on making your grass green naturally.
Why Does Moss Keep Growing On My Lawn?
If you have tried all of the above solutions and moss is still growing on your lawn then you have a problem.
If you haven’t tried a powerful herbicide that is designed to kill moss that would be the final option, I don’t normally advise the use of chemicals but this is the last resort.
If you apply herbicide and moss still grows back then it may be time to give up and embrace the moss.
If the conditions of your lawn are ideal for moss then you may be fighting a losing battle.
A moss lawn is not completely bad as it is low maintenance and at least it’s green.
If you don’t want to embrace a moss lawn then the only thing you could do would be to dig up and remove all the soil and grass on your lawn and completely relay with new topsoil and grass.
This will remove any spores that the moss leaves behind and it should be like a new fresh lawn without moss.
After this final solution if moss grows back then you just must have perfect conditions for growing moss.
