In Campbell River, our soil naturally tends to be quite acidic, and that is not ideal for lawns. Acidic soil becomes mossy quite quickly. If your yard is shady or if you have large conifer trees on your property your soil will be even more acidic, and your lawn can tend to have even more moss.

Here are some tips on dealing with moss.

1) Measuring your lawn area.

The average homeowner's lawns measure between about 4000 square feet for front and back lawns combined. If your lawn is not average, you should measure it. A long pace is about 3 feet so it can be measured in a very small amount of time. A 40’ X 50’ lawn is 2000 square feet. If you have the same 40’X 50’ size lawn front and back you would have 4000 square feet in total.

2) Getting rid of existing moss.

You can use either liquid or granular moss control to get rid of the existing moss. We find the Dogwood 9-3-6 Granular Moss Control to be the most effective form. You need at least two days of dry, sunny weather after application for the iron sulphate in your Moss Control to work well, so timing is important. The Moss Control goes onto a damp or dewy lawn, and then you withhold water for 48 hours. After ten days the moss will have all turned black, and it can be raked or thatched out of the lawn. If your lawn is quite thin after thatching, you can over-seed your lawn to make it lush again. Grass seed is generally safe to sow after April 1st.

3) Adjusting the soil pH with lime.

Once you have removed the dead moss, you can lime your lawn. Grass grows best in a more alkaline soil so liming your lawn in Spring and Fall is ideal. You should use dolomite lime to sweeten up the soil. The pelletized lime ‘Dolopril’ is now the most popular form of lime for lawns because it is so much easier to apply. It not only goes through a spreader easier but it is also less dusty, so it gets down to the ground better. The pelletized lime also reacts more quickly which is excellent, especially for Spring applications.

-Nigel Lambeth ©